to  wcB  beoi",h  or  his  beloved  charge 
,-.!.:G'HOLAS  MURRAY,  D.D. 


f, 


No. 

i  m; 

!     No. 

LIBEARY 

t          PRINCETON,  N.  J., 

,(Ja,8<\       C^U&tf-..S>.£-:^' 

Boo/:,               j  ~                                 1 

The  John 
1 

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M.  Krebs  Donation. 

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A^.  Jefa>  A 


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TO   THE   PEOPLE   OP   HIS   BELOVED    CHARGE. 


By 

NICHOLAS  ^MURRAY,  D.D. 


IzbtnavQ  iFottrtl),  1861. 


THINGS    UNSEEN   AND    ETERNAL. 


NEW    YORK: 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS,    PUBLISHERS, 
FBANKLIN    SQUARE. 

1861. 


CONTENTS. 


« »»- 


Page 

Introduction 3 

A  Future  World — 2  Cor.,  iv.,  18 7 

A  Personal  God — Gen.,  i,  1 25 

The  Soul— 1  Cor.,  xv.,  45 43 

Intermediate  State — Eccles.,  xii,  7 61 

Resurrection — 1  Cor.,  xv.,  35 79 


Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  one  thousand  eight  hundred  and 
sixty-one,  by 

HARPER    &    BROTHERS, 

In  the  Clerk's  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  Southern  District  of  New  York. 


INTRODUCTION, 


Why  send  forth  these  sermons  ?    The  sub- 
jects are  not  new ;  they  have  been  treated  by 
every  faithful  minister  of  Christ,  and  their 
treasures   again  and  again  unfolded  in  the 
Church.    Why,  then,  send  them  forth  ?    There 
is  a  secret  reason :  they  are  the  dying  legacy 
of  a  faithful  pastor  to  his  beloved  flock.     In 
that  solemn  hour  when,  like  one  translated, 
he  was  just   entering  the   celestial  city,  his 
thoughts  rested  for  a  brief  moment  on  those 
he  had  so  long  and  so  often  endeavored  to 
lead  into  "  green  pastures  and  beside  the  still 
waters ;"  and  while  he  poured  out  his  soul  in 
prayer  to  God  for  them,  he  was  reminded  that 
he  had  prepared  messages  for  them  which  he 
had  not  yet  delivered,  and  he  committed  the 
delivery  to  other  hands,  as  his  dying  legacy 
to  his  people. 

The  Future  World.     Here  we  find  a  con- 


iv  Introduction. 


firmation  of  the  faith  of  all  ages,  the  testimony 
of  Scripture  and  the  deductions  of  reason, 
with  an  earnest  appeal  to  his  beloved  flock  to 
"live,  not  for  the  things  which  are  seen  and 
temporal,  but  for  those  which  are  unseen  and 
eternal." 

A  Personal  God.  Here  our  faith  is 
strengthened  in  things  unseen  and  eternal  by 
a  review  of  great  first  principles,  and  our  safe- 
guard and  the  safeguard  of  the  world  estab- 
lished by  the  belief  of  the  being  and  presence 
of  God.  The  methods  by  which  this  person- 
al God  is  made  known  to  his  people,  and  the 
peace  and  blessedness  of  walking  with  him, 
are  set  forth. 

The  Soul.  In  this  third  sermon  we  have 
another  of  the  "  unseen  things,"  with  its  prop- 
erties, the  teachings  of  Scripture  on  its  im- 
mortality, the  responsibility  of  the  trust,  and 
the  value  of  its  salvation. 

Intermediate  State,  or  "  the  state  of  the 
soul   between   death   and  the   resurrection." 


Introduction. 


Here  we  find  the  destination  of  the  soul  set- 
tled, the  Christian  comforted  in  the  anticipa- 
tion of  death,  and  the  sinner  alarmed.  This 
was  the  last  sermon  written  by  this  beloved 
pastor.  His  series  was  not  completed.  As 
we  take  up  the  prepared  sheets  for  the  fifth 
and  last  of  the  course,  we  find  the  Scripture, 
"  How  are  the  dead  raised  ?  and  with  what 
body  do  they  come  ?"  (1  Cor.,  xv.,  35.)  This 
was  to  close  the  course.  The  subject  is  still 
among  the  things  unseen  and  eternal. 

Resurrection.  God,  in  his  inscrutable  prov- 
idence, has  left  this  subject  open  to  pastor  and 
people,  that  each  in  his  own  person  may  learn 
what  it  is  to  rise  to  glory  and  honor,  or  to 
everlasting  shame  and  contempt. 

11  My  work  is  done ;  I  want  my  mind  un- 
clouded."   "  My  work  is  done ;  I  want 

to  pray,"  is  the  utterance  of  the  dying  pastor. 
Confessing  his  unworthiness,  and  expressing 
his  assurance  that  he  had  been  washed  in  the 
blood  of  Christ  and  sanctified  by  his  Spirit, 
he  thanked  God  that  he  had  prepared  him  for 


vi  Introduction. 


this  trying  hour.  Committing  his  family,  his 
domestics,  his  beloved  Church  and  people,  his 
dear  elders,  his  trustees  and  deacons,  and  all 
classes  of  the  community  to  the  divine  care, 
he  prayed  that  they  might  be  men  after  God's 
own  heart.  Especially  he  prayed  for  his 
young  men,  merchants  and  mechanics,  that 
they  might  be  God-fearing  men,  hating  covet- 
ousness,  and  that  the  words  he  had  spoken  to 
them  might  bear  fruit  to  the  glory  of  God. 
His  brethren  in  the  ministry,  his  country  and 
the  world,  were  remembered.  We  may  not 
enter  too  minutely  into  this  sacred  scene. 
Loving  ties  were  sundering,  and  the  full  heart 
gave  vent  to  its  warm  affections  in  earnest, 
tender,  and  ever- to -be -remembered  expres- 
sions ;  but,  having  gathered  together  in  one 
comprehensive  petition  all  that  was  dear  and 
all  that  had  so  long  filled  his  great  heart,  like 
a  departing  apostle  he  lifted  his  hands :  "  Re- 
ceive the  blessing.  '  The  grace  of  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  the  love  of  God,  and  the  com- 
munion of  the  Holy  Spirit,  be  with  you  all.' ' 
Having  repeated  the  Lord's  Prayer,  he  added, 
"  '  Father,  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spir- 
it' "     "  No  more — no  more." 


THINGS  UNSEEN  AND  ETERNAL. 


A  FUTURE  WORLD. 

"  While  we  look  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen,  but  at 
the  things  which  are  unseen;  for  the  things  which  are  seen 
are  temporal,  but  the  things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal." 
—2  Cor.,  iv.,  18. 

We  never  stop  for  an  hour  to  consider 
the  character  of  Paul  the  Apostle  without 
having  our  minds  elevated  and  our  rever- 
ence greatly  excited.  In  his  state  of  nature 
he  was  a  true  man — true  to  the  principles  of 
his  education  and  to  his  conscientious  con- 
victions. And,  ignorantly  believing  that  he 
was  doing  God's  service,  he  persecuted  the 
disciples  unto  strange  cities.  But,  when  con- 
victed of  his  error,  he  gave  at  once  his 
wrong  principles  and  prejudices,  as  chaff)  to 
the  winds  of  heaven,  and  grasped  the  truth 
with  the  promptitude  and  the  earnestness  of 


8  Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

a  mind  that  saw  at  a  glance  its  eternal  im- 
portance. For  three  days  he  was  "  cast 
down,"  but  not  "  forsaken ;"  during  those 
days  the  light  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of 
Christ  shined  into  his  soul.  His  spiritual 
life,  like  that  of  plant  and  flower,  germinated 
in  darkness ;  and  when  taught  by  Ananias 
the  way  of  salvation  through  Christ,  he 
promptly  embraced  it.  He  bows  at  once  to 
the  truth.  The  heart  of  stone  relents — the 
fury  of  persecution  subsides — the  murdering 
sword  is  thrown  away — Saul  the  persecutor 
becomes  Paul  the  Apostle ;  and,  with  an  ar- 
dor proportioned  to  his  former  enmity,  he 
preaches  Christ  as  the  wisdom  of  God,  and 
as  the  power  of  God  to  every  one  that  be- 
lieves. He  saw,  at  a  glance,  the  losses,  the 
persecutions,  the  excommunications,  the  dan- 
gers to  which  his  new  course  of  life  subject- 
ed him ;  but  he  counted  every  thing  the  world 
promised  as  dross  and  as  dung  that  he  might 
win  Christ.  We  find  him,  at  the  time  he  wrote 
our  text,  in  great  affliction.  He  felt  that  his 
life  was  in  danger  daily — that  it  was  wearing 
out  under  his  incessant  labors  and  trials ;  but 
yet,  in  the  exercise  of  unwavering  faith  in 
the  Gospel,  which  brought  life  and  immortali- 


A  Future  World.  9 

ty  to  light,  he  persevered  in  the  discharge  of 
every  duty,  and  counted  not  his  life  dear  if  he 
could  only  win  Christ !  And  why  this  course 
of  moral  heroism,  then,  and  often  now,  called 
madness  ?  The  answer  we  have  in  our  text. 
He  looked  not  at  the  things  which  are  seen, 
but  at  the  things  which  are  not  seen ;  for  the 
things  which  are  seen  are  temporal,  but  the 
things  which  are  not  seen  are  eternal. 

The  apostle  here  contrasts  the  things  seen 
with  the  things  not  seen,  and  gives  to  the  lat- 
ter the  preference.  And  not  a  preference 
merely ;  but,  as  the  things  seen  are  temporal 
— existing  but  for  a  day,  like  a  tent  pitched  in 
the  wilderness — they  are  not  to  be  named  in 
comparison  with  the  things  which  are  unseen, 
because  they  are  eternal !  The  things  which 
are  not  seen  are  of  infinitely  greater  im- 
portance than  the  things  which  are  seen. 
This,  although  reversing  the  usual  estimate 
of  men,  is  true  as  to  every  thing.  You  see 
the  stream,  but  you  see  not  the  hidden  springs 
from  which  it  flows ;  the  hidden  springs  are 
of  more  importance  than  the  seen  stream. 
You  see  the  tree  in  verdure,  flower,  and  fruit, 
but  you  see  not  the  hidden  agencies  produc- 
ing these  results.     You  see  around  you  the 


10         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

most  wonderful  results  of  human  skill,  but 
you  see  not,  nor  can  you  comprehend,  the 
mind  that  produces  them !  You  daily  ob- 
serve the  rotation  of  the  world  on  its  axis, 
and  the  wonderful  regularity  of  its  motion, 
but  what  do  you  know  of  the  hidden  laws 
that  produce  them  ?  You  see  the  members 
of  your  body,  you  can  understand  their  va- 
rious movements,  but  you  see  not  the  soul, 
which  is  to  these  movements  as  are  the  hid- 
den springs  and  wheels  of  a  clock  to  the 
hands  that  move  on  its  face. 

And  it  is  in  religion  just  as  it  is  in  other 
things ;  the  things  unseen  are  of  infinitely 
greater  importance  than  the  things  seen,  and 
are  equally  real.  We  believe  in  the  unseen 
in  nature,  why  reject  them  in  religion  ?  We 
believe  the  unseen  things  in  nature  to  be  more 
important  than  the  things  seen,  why  not  so 
believe  in  religious  things  ?  We  are  fully 
persuaded  that  the  reason  why  men  live  so 
regardless  of  the  future  is  that  their  faith  is 
so  feeble  as  to  the  things  which  are  unseen 
and  eternal.  Their  hearts  are  filled  with  the 
love  of  the  world  ;  their  minds  are  engrossed 
with  the  things  of  time  and  sense.  The  god 
of  this  world  has  blinded  their  minds,  "  lest 


A  Future  World.  11 


the  light  of  the  glorious  Gospel  of  Christ, 
who  is  the  image  of  God,  should  shine  unto 
them."  Believing  all  this,  we  purpose,  in  a 
brief  series  of  discourses,  and  in  a  simple  and 
practical  form,  to  ask  your  attention  to  the 
consideration  of  some  of  those  things  which 

ARE    UNSEEN  AND  ETERNAL. 

And  we  commence  to-day  with 

A    FUTURE    WORLD. 

The  question  we  now  propose  to  discuss  is 
a  very  simple  one.  It  is  not  whether  there 
are  more  worlds  than  one  ?  This  question, 
we  think,  philosophers  have  satisfactorily  de- 
termined in  the  affirmative.  Nor  is  it  wheth- 
er these  other  worlds  are  inhabited  by  beings 
like  ourselves.  This  may  or  may  not  be  the 
case.  But,  however  that  question  may  be 
settled,  it  disturbs  not  a  question  of  revelation, 
nor  does  it  modify  our  duty  to  God  or  to  man. 
The  question  before  us  is  this :  Is  there  a  fu- 
ture world,  in  which  we  are  to  live  forever, 
and  in  which  we  are  to  be  rewarded  or  pun- 
ished according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the 
body  ?  This  is  a  question  of  the  highest  im- 
portance to  us ;  it  is  a  question  so  intensely 
practical  as  to  induce  us  to  summon  every 
energy  of  mind  and  conscience  in  order  to  its 


12        Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

true  settlement.  We  answer  the  question  in 
the  affirmative,  and  now  ask  your  attention 
to  our  reasons  for  so  believing. 

1.  That  there  is  a  future  world  in  which 
we  are  to  live  has  been  the  faith  of  all  the 
ages.  The  earliest  records  of  the  race  tes- 
tify to  such  a  belief.  The  Egyptians,  Per- 
sians, Scythians,  Assyrians,  Celts,  and  Druids 
believed  in  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and, 
of  course,  in  a  future  state.  This  faith  was 
not  lost  in  the  deepest  darkness  into  which 
the  race  ever  sunk,  nor  was  it  surrendered  as 
a  traditionary  prejudice  amid  the  lights  of  the 
highest  civilization.  Socrates  taught  that, 
when  the  dead  arrive  at  the  place  of  departed 
spirits,  they  are  judged.  The  good  are  sent 
to  a  place  of  vast  enjoyments;  the  very  bad 
to  Tartarus ;  and  those  who  are  neither  very 
good  nor  very  bad  are  sent  to  a  place  of  pu- 
rification, where  they  are  fitted  for  the  enjoy- 
ment of  the  good.  Socrates  is  the  great  au- 
thority for  Purgatory,  and  not  Christ,  Paul,  or 
Peter. 

And  this  universal  faith  in  a  future  world 
seems  a  part  of  our  humanity.  The  mind  of 
the  child  grasps  it  the  moment  it  is  present- 
ed.    The  mind  of  hoary  age  clings  to  it  with 


A  Future  World.  13 

a  tenacity  which  no  feebleness  can  relax. 
The  savage,  the  sage,  the  hermit,  the  lover  of 
fashion,  the  poor,  the  rich,  equally  cling  to  the 
belief  of  a  future  state,  and  are  cheered  by  its 
hopes  or  awed  by  its  fears.  And  when  all 
other  hopes  and  fears  are  forgotten  amid  the 
shadows  of  death,  when  collecting  fast  and 
thick  around  us,  even  then  are  we  sustained 
by  the  hopes  or  depressed  by  the  fears  of 
meeting  our  God  in  judgment.  And  this  in- 
delible impression  upon  the  universal  con- 
science of  man  is  itself  a  proof  of  the  exist- 
ence of  a  future  world.  Would  our  benevo- 
lent Creator  implant  such  a  belief  in  the  uni- 
versal conscience  if  there  was  nothing  in  the 
unseen  to  correspond  to  it  ?  Would  these 
voices,  admonishing  us  of  a  future  world,  be 
evermore  sounding  in  our  ears,  if  there  were 
no  future  world  ?     Impossible. 

Nor  is  it  any  objection  to  this  argument 
that  now  and  then  men  have  arisen  who  have 
denied  the  immortality  of  the  soul  and  a  fu- 
ture state.  These  have  been  to  the  believers 
in  them  as  are  the  comets  which  now  and 
then  blaze  and  burn  out  in  the  heavens,  to  the 
stars  which  are  ever  shining  in  their  place. 
It  is  very  strange  that  any  man  should  wish 


14         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

his  soul  to  be  mortal ;  but  "  a  wicked  man," 
says  a  Grecian  philosopher,  "  is  afraid  of  his 
judge,  and  therefore  wishes  that  his  soul  and 
his  body  should  perish  together."  So  that  we 
do  not  cease  to  be  when  we  die.  We  mere- 
ly pass  from  this  world  to  a  future  world. 

2.  The  desire  of  future  existence  is  innate 
to  man.  There  is  no  person  who  finds  full 
satisfaction  in  his  present  enjoyment;  and 
the  more  the  mind  is  cultivated,  the  more  it  is 
seeking  to  advance  from  its  present  to  some 
higher  attainment.  Things  that  give  exqui- 
site enjoyment  at  first  soon  lose  their  relish, 
and  soon  pall  the  appetite  they  pleased.  And 
the  evidence  of  all  this  you  see  in  the  univer- 
sal desire  for  novelty — for  change — you  see 
every  where  around  you. 

"  Hope  springs  eternal  in  the  human  breast ; 
Man  never  is,  but  always  to  be  bless'd ; 
The  soul,  uneasy  and  confined  from  home, 
Rests  and  expatiates  in  a  life  to  come." 

And  this  desire  of  future  existence  is  a  pow- 
erful stimulus  to  noble  and  generous  actions. 
When  life  was  offered  to  Demosthenes  on  a 
base  condition,  he  replied,  "  God  forbid  that  I, 
who  have  heard  Plato  discourse  so  divinely 
on  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  should  prefer 


A  Future  World.  15 

a  life  of  disgrace  to  an  honorable  death." 
Hence,  too,  the  noble  actions  of  Christian  he- 
roes under  the  influence  of  things  unseen  and 
eternal.  Their  faith  was  the  substance  of 
things  hoped  for,  and  the  evidence  of  things 
not  seen ;  and,  in  order  to  secure  a  title  to 
"  the  better  country,"  they  counted  not  their 
own  life  dear.  They  looked  beyond  the 
bounds  of  the  present;  they. lived  for  the  fu- 
ture, and  rejoiced  in  the  hope  that  was  set  be- 
fore them.  And  such,  in  some  degree,  is  the 
universal  desire  of  man.  And  would  God  ex- 
cite this  universal  desire  if  there  were  no  fu- 
ture world — if  the  soul  died  with  the  body  ? 

Let  us  put  this  idea  in  a  form  that  all  can 
understand  it.  A  man,  filled  with  the  love  of 
adventure,  ascended  the  Alps,  with  his  dog  as 
his  only  companion.  He  lost  his  way,  was 
overtaken  in  a  storm,  and  perished.  He  was 
soon  discovered,  his  faithful  dog  lying  dead 
by  his  side.  And  was  there  no  future  for  that 
master  more  than  for  his  dog?  And,  with 
these  quenchless  desires  after  immortality — 
with  these  thoughts  within  us  which  can  roam 
through  space  and  creation  with  more  than 
the  rapidity  of  light,  is  there  no  future  world 
for  us  more  than  for  the  beasts  that  perish  ? 


16         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

So  that  we  do  not  cease  to  be  when  we  die ; 
we  merely  pass  from  this  world  to  a  future 
world. 

3.  The  admitted  difficulties  of  Providence 
is  another  evidence  to  the  same  point.  It  is 
admitted,  to  a  certain  extent,  "that  virtue  is 
its  own  reward,  and  that  vice  is  its  own  pun- 
ishment." Were  there  no  unseen  world,  the 
deeds  of  a  Howard  would  bring  their  own  re- 
ward, and  the  wickedness  of  a  Herod  would 
secure  its  own  punishment.  The  natural  tend- 
ency of  virtue  is  to  produce  happiness,  and 
of  vice,  misery  ;  and  by  connecting  happi- 
ness with  virtue,  and  misery  with  vice,  God 
has  given  us  an  illustration  which  every  man 
feels  as  to  the  rectitude  of  his  purposes  to  the 
children  of  men.  Yet  do  these  purposes  seem 
very  often  frustrated  in  actual  life.  How  oft- 
en is  virtue  in  rags,  and  vice  wearing  the 
royal  purple !  How  often  is  virtue,  like  Laz- 
arus, in  abject  poverty,  and  begging  at  the 
gate  of  vice,  like  the  rich  man  clothed  in  pur- 
ple and  fine  linen !  How  often  is  wickedness 
on  the  bench,  like  Jeffreys,  and  virtue  at  the 
bar,  like  Baxter !  How  often  is  hypocrisy  in- 
stalled as  high-priest  in  the  synagogue,  like 
Caiaphas,  and  pronouncing  the  sentence  of 


A  Future  World.  17 

excommunication  upon  immaculate  virtue  ar- 
raigned at  its  bar,  like  the  adorable  Redeem- 
er !  We  wish  not  to  exaggerate  the  difficul- 
ties in  the  world  of  Providence  ;  but  who  does 
not  daily  see  honesty  thrown  into  the  shade 
by  a  double-tongued  expediency,  or  trodden 
under  the  iron  heel  of  brazen  effrontery  ? 
Who  does  not  see  honest  industry  sinking 
into  the  grave  under  the  pressure  and  the 
burdens  imposed  by  pampered  idleness  ?  Who 
does  not  see  poltroon  demagogues  and  parti- 
sans elevated  to  office,  while  the  purest  patri- 
otism is  left  to  die  in  neglect,  weeping  over 
the  evils  he  would  remedy  ?  And  why  all 
this  ?  Why  does  an  omnipotent  and  benevo- 
lent God  permit  such  things  ?  Why  are  the 
wicked  ever  in  power,  and  spreading  them- 
selves like  green  bay-trees  ?  and  why  do  the 
good  ever  wander  in  deserts  and  mountains, 
in  dens  and  caves  of  the  earth,  destitute,  af- 
flicted, tormented  ?  God's  plans  are  very 
large.  The  wheel  of  his  providence  makes 
a  wide  circuit.  The  life  of  man  here  is  too 
short  to  allow  the  full  development  of  his  pur- 
poses. To  do  this  requires  two  worlds.  We 
see  the  heavens  above  us  moving  on  in  per- 
fect order  without  a  jarring  note  of  discord. 

B 


18        Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

We  see  the  physical  laws  of  our  earth  pro- 
ducing their  regular  effects  without  ceasing; 
and  there  is  no  way  of  accounting  for  the  dis- 
orders in  the  moral  world  but  on  the  ground 
that  there  is  a  future  world,  where  men  will 
reap  as  they  sow  here !  There  the  sun  of 
Providence  will  pass  from  under  eclipse,  and 
the  whole  intelligent  creation  will  clearly  dis- 
cern that  God  does  make  a  difference  be- 
tween virtue  and  vice ;  between  those  who 
serve  him  and  those  who  do  not.  These  ev- 
idences render  a  future  world  probable — yes, 
even  necessary  to  vindicate  the  works  of  God 
to  man.     But  let  us  pass  on, 

4.  To  the  positive  testimony  of  Scripture 
as  to  a  future  world.  If  a  navigator  should 
discover  an  island  in  an  unknown  sea,  his  first 
desire  would  be  to  land  upon  it.  If  this  were 
impossible,  because  of  the  rocks  and  of  the 
billows  every  where  lashing  the  shore,  he 
would  desire  to  know  whether  it  was  inhab- 
ited. Should  a  canoe  be  seen  crossing  the 
billows  from  the  islands,  and  bringing  its  fruits 
for  sale,  the  proof  would  be  positive  that  it 
was  inhabited,  and  the  world  would  believe 
that  it  was.  Now,  have  we  any  such  evidence 
of  a  future  world  ?  Hear  what  we  have  to 
say  in  answer  to  this  question. 


A  Future  World.  19 

In  the  fullness  of  time  Jesus  Christ  came 
into  our  world.  But  whence  did  he  come  ? 
He  came  from  the  unseen  world,  to  tell  us 
about  it,  and  to  teach  us  definitely  and  author- 
itatively that  it  is  the  spirit-home  of  all  the 
dead.  He  brought  life  and  immortality  to 
light ;  and,  to  prove  the  truth  of  his  statements 
and  the  divinity  of  his  mission,  he  wrought  a 
series  of  the  most  stupendous  miracles. 

But  has  a  human  being  ever  returned  to 
earth  from  the  invisible  world  ?  Go  to  that 
mount  of  transfiguration,  where  the  Savior  as- 
sumed for  a  brief  time  the  glory  which  he  had 
with  the  Father  before  the  world  was ;  and 
who  are  these  conversing  with  him  ?  They 
were  Moses  and  Elias ;  the  one  the  venerable 
deliverer  and  legislator  of  Israel,  the  other  the 
venerable  priest  and  prophet  of  the  dispensa- 
tion which  was  just  about  to  vanish  away,  who 
ascended  to  heaven  in  a  chariot  of  fire,  and,  as 
if  for  the  purpose  of  proving  that,  whether  we 
die  upon  the  mount  with  Moses,  or  are  trans- 
lated with  the  prophet,  there  is  another  world 
where  we  live  after  death. 

And  we  have  in  the  resurrection  of  Christ 
proof  positive  to  the  same  point.  If  he  was 
divine,  he  was  also  human.     He  assumed  our 


20        Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

nature,  suffered  and  died  in  our  nature,  and 
rose  with  it.  The  body  that  died  rose  from 
the  grave ;  and  he  rose  the  first-fruits  of  those 
that  slept,  the  pattern  and  the  pledge  of  our 
resurrection ;  and  he  only  went  before  to  pre- 
pare a  place  for  his  people,  for  he  will  come 
again  and  receive  them  unto  himself.  He 
rose  and  ascended  to  a  world  now  invisible 
to  us. 

Nor  is  this  even  all.  If  Moses  and  Elias 
came  from  the  unseen  world  to  ours,  Paul 
went  from  ours  to  the  unseen  world.  "  I  knew 
a  man  in  Christ,"  he  says,  "about  fourteen  years 
ago,  how  that  he  was  caught  up  into  Paradise, 
and  heard  unspeakable  words  which  it  is  not 
lawful  for  a  man  to  utter."  Here,  then,  we 
have  the  testimony  of  Paul  that,  while  yet  in 
the  flesh,  he  had  actually  seen  the  world  which 
is  yet  invisible  to  us  !  No  wonder  that  he  had 
so  little  regard  for  the  things  which  are  seen 
and  temporal,  and  that  he  was  mainly  swayed 
by  the  things  which  are  unseen  and  eternal. 

And  if  from  these  instances  in  proof  we 
pass  to  the  teachings  of  the  Scriptures,  the  ev- 
idence of  a  future  state  becomes  at  once  over- 
whelming. The  belief  of  a  future  lies  at  the 
foundation  of  the  entire  volume.  If  there  is 
no  such  state,  our  religion  has  no  meaning, 


A  Future  World.  21 

and  its  teachings  are  all  a  delusion !  Abra- 
ham lived  in  the  expectation  of  a  city  which 
had  foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker  was 
God.  Moses  endured  as  seeing  him  who  is 
invisible,  for  he  had  respect  to  the  recompense 
of  reward.  All  the  patriarchs  declared  plainly 
that  they  sought  a  better  country,  that  is,  a 
heavenly.  David  says,  "  I  shall  be  satisfied 
when  I  awake  in  thy  likeness.  My  flesh  shall 
rest  in  hope,  for  thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul 
in  the  grave."  "  For  I  know,"  says  Job,  "  that 
my  Redeemer  liveth,  and  that  he  shall  stand 
in  the  latter  day  upon  the  earth ;  and  though 
after  my  skin  worms  destroy  this  body,  yet  in 
my  flesh  shall  I  see  God."  And  the  belief  in 
a  future  state  forms  the  entire  framework  of 
the  New  Testament.  "  For  we  know,"  says 
Paul,  "  if  this  earthly  house  of  our  tabernacle 
were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of  God,  a 
house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in  the 
heavens."  And  Peter  teaches  us  that  believ- 
ers are  "  begotten  to  the  lively  hope  of  an  in- 
heritance which  is  incorruptible  and  undefiled, 
and  that  fadeth  not  away,  reserved  in  heaven 
for  them."  And  the  Savior  says,  "  I  give  unto 
them  eternal  life."  "  Many  shall  come  from 
the  east  and  from  the  west,  and  shall  sit  down 
with  Abraham,  and  Isaac,  and  Jacob,  in  the 


22        Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

kingdom  of  heaven."  And  the  Scriptures  teach 
with  equal  explicitness  the  future  misery  of  the 
wicked,  as  they  do  the  happiness  of  the  right- 
eous. "  These  shall  go  away  into  everlasting 
punishment,  but  the  righteous  into  life  eternal." 

Here,  then,  we  rest  our  proof  as  to  a  future 
state  of  being.  Skepticism  may  affect  to  doubt, 
or  may  deny  the  testimony  adduced,  but  it  can 
not  disprove  it;  and  the  man  that  denies  it 
denies  the  testimony  of  Scripture,  and  the  de- 
ductions of  his  own  reason,  and  the  longings 
of  his  own  soul  after  immortality.  Let  us  turn 
for  a  moment  to  some  of  the  practical  appli- 
cations of  this  great  doctrine. 

While  the  doctrine  of  a  future  world  has 
interpenetrated  the  faith  of  all  nations  and  of 
all  people,  what  is  its  practical  effect  upon  the 
conduct  of  men  ?  Which  influences  men 
most,  the  seen  or  the  unseen  world  ?  All 
those  out  in  the  pursuit  of  sensual  gratifica- 
tion, of  power,  wealth,  fame,  amusements,  be- 
lieve that  they  are  to  live  forever !  Perhaps, 
without  an  exception,  you  all  believe  the  proofs 
we  have  now  given  of  the  future  world,  and 
yet  how  many  of  you  will  go  out  from  these 
seats  resolved  to  live  for  the  things  which  are 
unseen  and  eternal  ?  The  fact  is,  that  while 
there  is  a  general  credence  in  a  future  world, 


A  Future  World.  23 

there  is  far  less  firm  faith  in  it  than  we  imag- 
ine. How  busy  we  are  as  to  things  this  side 
of  the  grave — how  careless  as  to  things  be- 
yond it !  See  those  parents,  believing  in  a  fu- 
ture world,  and  yet  not  to  be  comforted,  be- 
cause their  children  are  gone  there,  or  bringing 
up  their  children  for  this !  See  those  profess- 
ing the  religion  of  Christ,  and  yet  living  for 
the  present  state  as  if  it  were  never  to  end, 
and  laying  up  treasures  upon  earth  as  if  a  fu- 
ture world  were  all  a  fable!  See  that  man, 
verging  to  his  threescore  years  and  ten,  with 
the  unquestionable  belief  of  a  future  world, 
and  yet  without  one  serious  thought  as  to 
preparation  to  enter  it !  And  there  are  many 
such  here.  There  are  multitudes  who  believe 
in  a  future  world,  and  yet  who  regard  the  man 
who  daily  seeks  preparation  for  it  as  more  su- 
perstitious than  reasonable,  as  more  pious  than 
wise.  Seneca,  after  surveying  the  heavenly 
bodies,  asked,  "  Is  it  to  this  little  spot  that  the 
great  designs  and  vast  desires  of  men  are  con- 
fined ?  Is  it  for  this  that  there  is  such  disturb- 
ance of  nations  ?  Oh,  folly  of  deceived  men, 
to  imagine  great  kingdoms  in  the  compass  of 
an  atom!"  And,  in  view  of  the  unseen  state, 
may  we  not  ask,  What  is  a  man  profited  should 
he  gain  this  entire  globe,  and  fail  of  the  hap- 


24         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

piness  of  the  future  state  ?  We  are  here  but 
for  a  day,  and  all  the  things  seen  and  tempo- 
ral are  but  as  the  light  dust  of  the  balance 
when  compared  with  the  things  which  are  un- 
seen and  eternal. 

My  dear  hearers,  are  you  now  satisfied  that 
we  have  proved  the  doctrine  of  a  future  world 
beyond  any  reasonable  doubt  ?  Do  you  not 
feel  certain  that,  when  you  cease  living  here, 
you  will,  in  another  world,  enter  upon  an  eter- 
nal life  ?  You  can  not  tell  when,  where,  or 
how  you  may  pass  the  narrow  frith  which 
separates  this  from  the  future  world,  but 
cross  it  you  must.  And  is  it  wise,  amid  the 
seen,  to  neglect  the  unseen  ?  is  it  wise,  amid 
things  temporal,  to  forget  the  things  that  are 
unseen  and  eternal  ?  Very  many  have  kept 
on,  and  on,  and  on,  to  the  very  borders  of  this 
world,  and  put  off  a  preparation  for  the  next 
until  they  were  just  stepping  into  it.  Then  it 
was  too  late !  Some  such  I  have  known  and 
loved — and  sought,  in  vain,  to  turn  them  from 
such  a  course  of  folly.  And  we  warn  you 
against  such  a  course  of  folly.  Live  not  for 
the  world  around  you,  but  for  the  world  before 
you ;  not  for  the  things  which  are  seen  and 
temporal,  but  for  the  things  which  are  unseen 
and  eternal. 


THINGS  UNSEEN  AND  ETERNAL. 


GOD. 

"  In  the  beginning,  God  created  the  heaven  and  the  earth." 
—  Genesis,  i.,  1. 

On  the  last  Sabbath  morning  we  com- 
menced a  series  of  discourses  on  some  of 
those  things  which  are  unseen  and  eternal. 
Our  object  in  doing  so  is,  if  possible,  to  arrest 
attention  to  their  infinite  importance.  These 
things  which  are  seen  —  these  bodies,  this 
earth,  these  heavens,  with  all  their  garniture, 
and  all  which  they  possess  desirable  —  are 
temporal.  They  are  but  as  a  tent  pitched  in 
the  wilderness,  to  be  taken  down  by  the  trav- 
eler on  his  next  remove  ;  but  the  things  which 
are  unseen  are  eternal.  They  are  without 
variableness  or  shadow  of  turning.  And  our 
object  in  calling  up  these  unseen  things  be- 
fore you  is  to  place  them  before  you  as  reali- 


26        Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

ties,  and  to  induce  you  to  live,  not  for  the 
things  which  are  seen  and  temporal,  but  for 
the  things  which  are  unseen  and  eternal. 
And  as  in  our  last  discourse  we  placed  before 
you  the  doctrine  of  a  future  world,  we  will 
ask  your  attention  this  morning  to  the  doc- 
trine of 

A  personal  God. 

A  missionary  in  India  was  asked  by  a  pun- 
dit that  he  was  instructing  in  the  doctrines  of 
the  Bible  to  prove  to  him  the  being  of  a  God. 
"  I  can  not  see  him,"  he  said,  "  and  how  can  I 
know  that  he  exists  ?"  "  Do  you  believe  you 
have  a  soul?"  "  Oh  yes,"  was  the  prompt  re- 
ply. "  Do  you  see  your  soul  ?"  he  again  ask- 
ed. "Certainly  not,"  said  the  pundit.  "And 
such,"  said  the  missionary,  "  is  the  living  God ; 
he  is  not  seen  by  us,  but  he  is  every  where 
present."  And  the  Hindoo  bowed  assent  to 
the  truth  that  a  thing  may  be  invisible  to  us, 
and  yet  be  a  great  power  in  the  universe. 

As  we  walk  up  and  down  in  this  world  of 
ours,  amid  the  things  which  are  seen  and 
temporal,  we  are  every  where  met  with  order, 
and  arrangement,  and  adaptation,  and  beauty. 
These  we  see  in  the  heavens  above,  and  on 
the  earth  beneath,  and  in  the  sea,  and  in  the 


God.  27 

body  of  man,  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made. 
And  whence  this  order,  adaptation,  arrange- 
ment, and  beauty?  Our  text  answers  the 
question  :  "  In  the  beginning,  God  created  the 
heaven  and  the  earth."  But  who  is  God  ? 
And  what  if  we  are  left  to  say  with  Job, 
"  Behold,  I  go  forward,  but  he  is  not  there ; 
and  backward,  but  I  can  not  perceive  him ; 
on  the  left  hand,  where  he  doth  work,  but  I 
can  not  behold  him  ;  he  hideth  himself  on  the 
right  hand,  that  I  can  not  see  him."  Does  he 
not,  therefore,  exist  ?  Have  you  no  soul  be- 
cause you  can  not  see  it  ?  Is  there  no  wind 
that  rolls  the  sea  into  billows  because  you  can 
not  see  it?  Is  there  no  law  that  binds  and 
regulates  the  planets,  producing  the  regular 
succession  of  the  seasons,  because  we  do  not 
see  it  ?  Do  the  thousand  spindles  of  a  mill 
go  of  themselves  because  you  can  not  see  the 
power  that  moves  them  ?  The  unseen  are 
the  great  powers  of  the  world  and  of  the  uni- 
verse, and  none  but  a  mind  dark  as  was  that 
of  the  pundit  can  question  the  being  of  a  per- 
sonal God  because  unseen.  He  is  a  spirit, 
infinite,  eternal,  and  unchangeable ;  and  if  seen, 
he  would  be  no  longer  God ! 

The  existence  of  God  is  the  basis  of  all 


28        Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

religion,  because  "religion  means  a  system 
of  truths  of  which  God  is  the  subject  and 
centre,  or  a  course  of  conduct  of  which  he  is 
the  grand  object.  To  such  a  Being  we  and 
the  universe  sustain  very  important  relations, 
if  we  can  prove  his  existence.  If  there  is  no 
God,  then  the  whole  fabric  of  religion  totters 
to  its  foundations,  and  the  services  it  requires 
are  not  only  vain,  but  unreasonable.  But,  hap- 
pily for  all  the  great  interests  involved,  God 
has  not  left  himself  without  ample  witnesses 
on  this  subject.  And  while  to  undertake  to 
prove  the  existence  of  God  seems  as  unnec- 
essary as  to  prove  our  own,  yet  is  it  well  to 
strengthen  our  faith  in  things  unseen  and 
eternal  by  an  occasional  review  of  great  first 
principles. 

Permit  a  few  brief  thoughts,  by  way  of  pre- 
liminary, before  giving  a  synopsis  of  the  ar- 
gument for  the  being  of  a  personal  God. 

"  The  fool  says  in  his  heart  there  is  no 
God."  This  fool  is  the  Atheist.  But  atheism 
has  never  succeeded  to  any  extent  in  weak- 
ening the  general  belief  in  his  existence,  and 
for  two  reasons :  it  is  the  theory  of  a  corrupt 
heart,  and  it  sets  itself  in  opposition  to  an  in- 
tuitive belief  of  the  race.     It  is  not  the  mind 


God.  29 

that  refuses  the  evidence  which  proves  his 
existence  ;  it  is  the  heart  which  revolts  against 
his  holiness  and  against  his  law,  which  implies 
accountability,  guilt,  and  punishment.  It  is 
our  carnal  nature  which  drives  the  intellect 
into  rebellion,  and  then  "  the  fool  says  in  his 
heart  there  is  no  God."  But  the  absurdity 
of  atheism  is  so  obvious  that  we  can  afford 
to  lay  it  aside  with  this  brief  notice.  What 
would  you  think  of  the  man  who  should 
gravely  attempt  to  prove  to  you  that  your 
watch,  or  your  coat,  or  your  gloves,  had  no 
maker — that  they  made  themselves!  And 
what  can  you  think  of  the  man  who  would 
prove  to  you  that  these  heavens  above  us, 
this  earth  on  which  we  live,  these  bodies  so 
wonderfully  articulated,  had  no  maker — that 
they  made  themselves!  No  man  can  be  an 
Atheist  until  he  knows  all  things ;  for  the 
thing  which  he  does  not  know  may  be  God ; 
and  when  he  knows  all  things,  he  is  God. 

Nor  has  Pantheism  ever  succeeded  to  any 
extent  in  weakening  the  simple  belief  in  the 
existence  of  a  personal  God  save  on  its  idol- 
atrous side.  This  makes  God  the  world,  and 
the  world  God.  Every  thing  that  lives,  and 
moves,  and  exists,  is  a  development  of  God. 


30        Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

The  tree,  the  stream,  man  and  beast,  the  an- 
gel, the  worm,  Moses  and  Pharaoh,  Paul  and 
Judas,  Balaam  and  his  ass,  are  alike  parts  of 
God.  The  results  to  which  this  theory  leads 
— the  worship  of  man,  beast,  fowl,  of  the  bad 
and  the  good,  as  God — stamps  it  as  false  up 
to  the  point  of  absurdity.  Nor  has  atheism, 
nor  Pantheism,  nor  any  other  theory  which 
the  corrupt  heart  of  man  has  devised  to  get 
rid  of  a  personal  God,  ever  collected  enough 
of  evidence  around  them  to  weaken  the  gen- 
eral belief  in  the  God  in  whom  we  live,  and 
move,  and  have  our  being.  Thus  putting 
atheism  and  Pantheism  aside,  we  proceed  to 
place  before  you  the  testimony  which  proves 
the  existence  of  a  personal  God.  We  must 
compress  into  paragraphs  what  it  would  take 
chapters  and  volumes  fully  to  develop. 

1.  We  have  no  knowledge  of  any  existence 
without  a  cause.  Look  around  you,  and 
minutely  examine  every  thing  that  meets  the 
eye ;  and  do  you  find  any  thing  on  the  wide 
field  of  your  scrutiny  that  has  not  had  a  cause  ? 
Does  not  every  effect  require  a  cause  ?  If 
the  little  pin  in  your  sleeve  had  a  maker, 
must  not  every  thing  else  that  exists  have  had 
a  maker  ?     It  is  simply  absurd  to  assert  that 


God.  31 

there  is  any  existence  without  an  adequate 
cause.  And  all  mankind  have  confessed  their 
belief  in  the  inseparable  connection  of  cause 
and  effect.  If,  on  entering  a  building,  I  should 
see  a  wheel  turning,  I  would  at  once  conclude 
that  the  wheel  had  a  maker,  and  that  it  was 
turned  by  some  power ;  and  can  I  look  out 
upon  this  moving  earth,  with  all  its  wonderful 
adaptations,  without  coming  to  a  similar  con- 
clusion ? 

2.  The  mind  can  not  conceive  of  existence 
without  a  cause.  You  find  a  deserted  hut  in 
the  woods ;  it  was  built  by  somebody.  You 
find  a  well  in  the  desert ;  it  was  dug  by  some- 
body. You  find  a  pocket-knife  on  the  sum- 
mit of  the  Andes ;  it  was  dropped  by  some- 
body from  the  regions  of  civilization,  or  it  was 
brought  from  those  regions.  If  nothing  ex- 
isted, nothing  can  possibly  exist.  For  every 
thing  that  exists  there  must  be  a  cause ;  nor 
can  the  human  mind  conceive  to  the  contrary, 
save  as  to  the  great,  first,  necessary  existence, 
which  explains  every  thing,  and  without  which 
we  are  in  a  labyrinth  of  mysteries. 

3.  The  existence  of  things  proves  the  be- 
ing of  God.  You  know  that  you  exist. 
You  require  no  proof  here. .    You  know  you 


32        Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

did  not  exist  always ;  you  began  to  be  a  few 
years  since.  You  did  not  make  that  body,  so 
wonderfully  adjusted  and  contrived ;  you  did 
not  put  into  that  body  that  mind,  of  such  mys- 
terious powers.  This  is  beyond  human  pow- 
er. Your  existence  had  a  cause,  and  that 
cause  we  call  God.  And  the  understanding 
necessary  to  contrive,  and  the  power  neces- 
sary to  create  a  being  composed  of  human 
body  and  soul,  admits  of  no  limits.  He  who 
can  contrive  and  create  such  a  being,  can 
contrive  and  create  any  thing,  and  he  certain- 
ly created  all  things. 

4.  The  state  of  things  is  proof  to  the  same 
point.  We  admit  the  existence  of  each  oth- 
er ;  and,  when  asked  for  the  evidence  of  this 
admission,  we  give  that  of  our  senses.  We 
see  a  form;  we  hear  a  voice;  we  see  each 
others  actions  and  movements.  But  these 
are  not  the  man ;  they  are  only  the  effects  of 
which  man  is  the  cause.  And  thus  we  rea- 
son as  to  the  existence  of  God.  In  the  world 
without  and  within  us,  we  perceive  every  va- 
riety of  effects  produced  by  some  adequate 
cause.  Thus  the  motions  of  the  planetary 
system ;  the  diffusion  of  light ;  the  growth, 
decay,  and  reconstruction  constantly  going  on 


God.  33 

in  progress  around  us ;  the  storm,  the  light- 
ning, the  volcano,  the  rain,  the  dew ;  the  pul- 
sations of  the  heart ;  the  perceptions  of  the 
senses ;  the  rapid  and  various  actions  of  the 
mind,  are  all  effects  of  a  cause  adequate  to 
their  ceaseless  production.  And  that  cause 
is  God. 

And  how  wonderful  the  adaptation  every 
where  observable  in  the  world  of  nature 
around  us !  Every  organized  being  is  com- 
plete in  itself,  and  yet  each  seems  necessary 
to  the  good  and  beauty  of  the  whole.  The 
grass  covers  the  earth  with  beauty,  and  is 
adapted  to  the  support  of  animals.  Fruit, 
grain,  and  animals  are  adapted  to  the  support 
of  man.  The  earth,  the  air,  the  ocean,  the 
rain,  the  dew,  the  sunshine,  are  all  adapted  to 
the  production  of  vegetable  life,  and  to  the 
comfort  and  preservation  of  man.  And  in 
all  these  things  there  is  a  skill  and  a  power 
which  can  be  ascribed  only  to  God.  Infinite 
power  and  skill  are  every  moment  conspicu- 
ous in  every  thing  around  us. 

What  the  nature  of  man  craves  —  what 
the  reason  of  man  proves  and  approves  — 
what  the  effects  which  every  where  meet  the 
eye  declare,  the  Scriptures  plainly  teach  that 

C 


34         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

there  is  a  God,  the  Creator  of  all  things,  who 
in  the  beginning  made  the  heavens  and  the 
earth,  in  whom  we  live,  and  move,  and  have 
our  being.  He  is  self-existent ;  without  be- 
ginning of  days  or  end  of  years.  He  is  al- 
mighty. To  the  power  which  gave  existence 
to  all  things  in  heaven,  earth,  and  hell — which 
upholds  all  things — there  can  be  no  limit. 
He  moves  every  atom  ;  expands  every  leaf; 
guides  every  ray  of  light ;  breathes  in  every 
wind ;  heaves  the  ocean,  and  rolls  round  the 
globe.  He  thundereth  marvelously  with  his 
voice ;  holdeth  the  winds  in  his  fist ;  sendeth 
lightnings  with  rain ;  looketh  on  the  earth  and 
it  trembleth ;  toucheth  the  hills  and  they 
smoke ;  melteth  the  mountains  at  his  pres- 
ence, and  causeth  the  outgoing  of  the  morn- 
ing and  of  the  evening  to  rejoice.  And  with 
almighty  power  and  infinite  wisdom  he  is  con- 
ducting all  things  to  their  destined  and  de- 
sired ends.  He  is  the  God  of  creation,  provi- 
dence, and  grace.  He  is  the  God  and  the 
Father  of  our  Lord  and  Savior  Jesus  Christ. 
This  is  the  God  we  worship.  And,  although 
no  man  hath  seen  God  at  any  time — although 
now  we  see  him  not,  yet,  believing  in  him,  we 
rejoice  with  joy  unspeakable  and  full  of  glo- 


God.  35 

ry.  "  In  the  beginning  he  made  the  heavens 
and  the  earth  ;"  he  now  rules  in  the  armies 
of  heaven  and  among  the  children  of  men ; 
his  providence  is  universal,  extending  to  all 
creatures  and  all  their  actions.  "You  talk 
about  your  God,"  said  a  Roman  emperor  to  a 
rabbi ;  "  I  do  not  see  him ;  show  him  to  me." 
"  Raise  your  eyes,"  said  the  rabbi,  "  to  the 
heavens ;  God  is  there."  And  the  emperor 
looked  up  into  the  sky.  At  that  moment  the 
sun  passed  from  under  a  cloud,  and  poured 
its  rays  upon  the  earth,  and  the  emperor 
closed  his  eyes,  unable  to  bear  its  dazzling 
lustre.  "  What !"  said  the  rabbi,  "  would  you 
see  God,  when  you  have  not  power  to  look 
one  of  his  satellites  in  the  face  for  a  mo- 
ment ?" 

As  surely  as  there  is  a  sun  in  heaven,  as 
surely  as  there  is  a  living  man,  as  surely  as 
no  effect  can  exist  without  a  cause,  as  surely 
as  the  Bible  is  a  divine  revelation,  so  surely  is 
there  a  God,  who  is  a  spirit,  infinite,  eternal, 
unchangeable  in  his  being,  wisdom,  power, 
holiness,  justice,  goodness,  and  truth. 

Having  thus  placed  before  you  the  evidence 
of  the  being  of  a  personal  God,  we  ask  your 
serious  attention  to  a  few  of  the  lessons  which 
it  teaches. 


36        Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

1.  It  teaches  us  how  great  a  being  is  God. 
He  created  the  heavens  and  the  earth — that 
is,  he  made  them  out  of  nothing.  He  said, 
"  Let  there  be  light,  and  there  was  light."  He 
said,  "  Let  there  be  a  firmament,"  and  there 
was  a  firmament.  He  is  the  first  cause  of  ev- 
ery effect  we  see.  The  heavens  declare  his 
glory,  and  the  earth  his  skill.  On  him  all 
things  depend  for  their  continuance,  and  by 
him  all  things  are  conducted  in  order  and  har- 
mony to  their  destined  ends.  He  exists  with- 
out cause  and  without  change.  He  is  al- 
mighty. While  all  the  men  that  live  could 
not  draw  a  mountain  from  its  base,  God  takes 
up  the  isles  as  a  very  little  thing,  and  moves 
this  world  sixty-eight  thousand  miles  in  an 
hour ;  and  not  this  world  merely,  but  the  whole 
system  of  which  it  is  a  part.  The  power,  the 
wisdom  that  do  all  this,  we  call  God ;  but  the 
name  gives  us  no  adequate  idea  of  him ;  he  is 
infinitely  beyond  our  comprehension.  "  Canst 
thou,  by  searching,  find  out  God  ?  Canst  thou 
find  out  the  Almighty  to  perfection  ?  It  is 
high  as  heaven ;  what  canst  thou  do  ?  deep- 
er than  hell ;  what  canst  thou  know  ?  The 
measure  thereof  is  longer  than  the  earth,  and 
broader  than  the  sea."     Oh,  to  have  our  minds 


God.  37 

and  our  hearts  thoroughly  imbued  with  right 
feelings  as  to  the  greatness  of  God  !  It  is  in 
this  way  we  may  become  great  ourselves. 

2.  It  teaches  us  that  we  are  ever  living  un- 
der his  inspection.  "  Thou,  God,  seest  me,' 
is  the  feeling  which  we  should  ever  entertain 
in  every  walk  of  life  and  amid  all  its  duties. 
All  that  we  do  we  are  doing  under  the  imme- 
diate inspection  of  God.  It  is  in  him  we  live, 
and  move,  and  have  our  being.  He  knows 
our  downsitting  and  our  uprising,  and  under- 
stands our  thoughts  when  to  us  they  are  yet 
afar  off.  And  as  we  move  up  and  down  our 
world — as  we  are  engaged  in  its  trade,  travel, 
duties,  we  should  ever  feel  that  God  is  on  our 
right  hand  and  on  our  left.  Although  unseen, 
we  are  surrounded  with  God,  from  whose  om- 
nipotence there  is  no  escape.  And  this  con- 
scious presence  of  God  is  our  great  safeguard. 
If  we  withhold  our  hand  from  evil  because  of 
the  presence  of  man,  how  much  more  because 
of  the  presence  of  God  ?  It  was  this  sense 
of  his  presence  that  induced  Joseph  to  say, 
"  How  can  I  do  this  great  wickedness  and  sin 
against  God  ? 

The  belief  in  the  being  and  presence  of  God 
is  the  safeguard  of  the  world — is  the  founda- 


38        Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

tion  of  civil  order — is  the  great  tie  upon  the 
conscience  of  man.  What  is  an  oath  worth 
if  there  is  no  God,  or  if  the  individual  taking 
it  denies  or  disregards  his  existence  ?  Men 
are  to  be  trusted  just  in  the  proportion  they 
believe  in  God  and  fear  him ;  and  they  are  to 
be  distrusted  just  in  the  proportion  they  deny 
or  disregard  his  existence.  Nor  can  we  ac- 
count for  many  things  we  hear  and  see — for 
the  corruption,  fraud,  dishonesty,  peculations, 
prevailing  in  high  places  and  in  low,  but  on 
the  ground  that  practical  atheism  has  corrupt- 
ed the  public  mind,  and  is  poisoning  the  fount- 
ains of  public  influence.  How  different  a 
world  would  ours  be  if  all  men  could  say, 

"  Within  thy  circling  power  I  stand, 
On  every  side  I  find  thy  hand ; 
Awake,  asleep,  at  home,  ahroad, 
I  am  surrounded  still  with  God." 

3.  It  teaches  us  to  acquaint  ourselves  with 
God,  and  to  be  at  peace  with  him.  God  is 
not  known  by  abstract  definitions,  nor  even 
by  logical  or  theological  proofs  of  his  exist- 
ence, such  as  we  have  now  placed  before  you. 
He  is  known  very  much  as  a  man  knows  his 
friend,  by  the  hourly  wants  he  supplies — by 
his  sympathy  in  suffering — by  the  fears  which 


God.  39 

he  relieves — by  the  temptations  which  he  ena- 
bles us  to  surmount.  We  learn  to  know  God 
as  the  infant  child  learns  to  know  its  mother, 
by  realizing  his  constant  presence,  and  kind- 
ness, and  care.  And  as  we  pass  on  through 
life,  and  find  in  every  changing  situation,  in 
every  reverse,  in  every  trouble,  from  the  light- 
est sorrow  to  those  which  move  the  soul  to 
its  depths,  that  he  is  equally  present,  and  that 
his  gracious  aid  is  equally  adequate,  our  faith 
gradually  grows  almost  into  sight,  until  his 
existence,  love,  and  care  become  a  reality. 
It  was  thus  with  Paul  when  he  could  say,  "  I 
know  in  whom  I  have  believed,  and  that  he 
will  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto 
him."  To  him,  faith  in  God  was  the  substance 
of  things  hoped  for  and  the  evidence  of  things 
not  seen.  He  walked  with  God  as  a  man 
walks  with  a  friend. 

And  how  elevating  the  thought  of  walking 
with  God,  and  how  comforting !  Are  you  a 
pilgrim  walking  in  ways  often  dark  ?  He  is 
your  guide.  Acknowledge  him  in  all  your 
ways,  and  he  will  direct  your  steps.  Are  you 
in  affliction  and  sorrow  ?  He  is  with  you 
amid  the  deep  waters  and  the  fires.  Call 
upon  him  in  the  day  of  trouble,  and  he  will 


40         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

not  permit  the  waters  to  overwhelm  you,  nor 
the  fires  to  consume  you.  Are  you  tried  and 
tempted  ?  He  is  able  to  succor  them  that  are 
tempted.  Do  you  think  yourself  overlooked 
because  of  your  obscure  situation  ?  The  hairs 
of  your  head  are  numbered.  Various  and 
changeful  may  be  the  scenes  of  your  life,  but 
he  makes  all  things  work  together  for  your 
good.  Do  you  fear  death  ?  He  will  be  with 
you  through  the  valley  and  shadow  of  death. 
Are  you  to  return  to  the  dust,  and  to  moulder 
in  the  grave  ?  He  watches  over  your  dust ; 
in  his  book  all  your  members  are  written ; 
your  flesh  shall  rest  in  hope.  And  walking 
with  God  in  white  will  be  the  substance  and 
the  essence  of  the  joys  of  heaven,  and  the 
theme  of  its  unending  hallelujahs. 

But  how  may  we  acquaint  ourselves  with 
God,  and  be  at  peace  with  him  ?  We  may 
learn  much  of  God  from  the  things  which  he 
has  made — from  the  laws  and  instincts  he  has 
given  to  his  creatures — from  his  providential 
government  of  the  world ;  but  all  these  only 
exhibit  him  in  part.  "  No  man  hath  seen  God 
at  any  time ;  the  only-begotten  Son  which  is 
in  the  bosom  of  the  Father,  he  hath  declared 
him."  We  only  know  God  truly  as  he  has 
revealed  himself  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ. 


God.  41 

Whatever  is  visible  in  an  object  is  called  its 
face.  Thus  we  speak  of  the  face  of  the  heav- 
ens, and  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  sea ;  and  in 
each  of  these  the  glory  of  God  is  to  be  seen. 
But  it  is  only  in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ — that 
is,  in  his  person,  his  life,  his  preaching,  his 
miracles,  sufferings,  death,  resurrection,  atone- 
ment, ascension,  intercession,  that  the  whole 
Godhead  is  revealed.  When  speaking  of 
God  in  relation  to  the  Gospel,  Paul  uses  the 
epithet  "  blessed"  with  singular  propriety : 
"According  to  the  glorious  Gospel  of  the 
blessed  God."  The  Gospel  is  the  grand  em- 
anation from  the  fountain  of  blessedness.  It 
is  the  grand  overflow  of  the  divine  goodness. 
It  is  the  infinitely  holy  and  blessed  God  pour- 
ing forth  his  happiness  upon  sinners  through 
Jesus  Christ.  The  result  is,  that,  as  God  is 
the  great  Supreme,  he  must  in  all  things  oc- 
cupy the  supreme  place. 

God,  then,  though  unseen,  is  the  great  re- 
ality. He  gives  us  life,  and  breath,  and  all 
things  we  possess.  To  him  we  must  give  an 
account  of  every  thought,  word,  and  deed. 
We  can  only  truly  know  God  by  believing  on 
his  Son.  "  No  man  knoweth  the  Father  but 
the  Son,  and  he  to  whom  the  Son  shall  re- 
veal him." 


THINGS  UNSEEN  AND  ETERNAL. 


THE   SOUL. 


"  The  first  man  Adam  was  made  a  living  soul." 

"  'EyeVero  6  TrpuiTog  avdpioirog  Aca/j.  slg  ^v^ijv  (waav." — 1  Cor., 
XV.,  45. 

In  two  discourses  on  things  unseen  and 
eternal,  we  have  already  placed  before  you  a 
future  world  and  the  being  of  a  God.  These 
are  both  unseen  to  us ;  but  yet  are  they  great 
realities,  which  should  influence  us  far  beyond 
the  things  which  are  seen  and  temporal.  This 
world  is  but  a  dot  in  comparison  with  the 
world  to  come,  and  the  approbation  of  man  is 
but  as  the  tinkling  of  a  cymbal,  or  as  the  mur- 
muring of  a  ripple  on  the  shore  of  the  sea,  to 
the  approbation  of  God.  But  there  are  other 
things  unseen  of  infinitely  greater  importance 
than  the  things  which  are  seen,  and  which  are 


44         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

ever  seeking  to  give  direction  to  our  conduct. 
And  among  these  is  the  soul  of  man. 

When  we  turn  to  the  record  of  creation  as 
given  us  by  Moses,  we  find  a  very  different 
style  of  narrative  as  to  the  forming  of  matter, 
of  beasts,  and  of  man.  He  simply  spoke  into 
being  the  heavens  and  the  earth,  the  beasts  of 
the  earth,  the  fishes  of  the  sea,  and  fowl  of 
the  air.  But  man  was  designed  for  dominion, 
and  he  must  be  made  in  the  image  and  like- 
ness of  his  Creator.  "  And  the  Lord  God 
formed  man  out  of  the  dust  of  the  ground, 
and  breathed  into  his  nostrils  the  breath  of 
life ;  and  man  became  a  living  soul."  And 
in  the  sense  in  which  Adam  possessed,  do  we 
all  possess  a  living  soul.  The  body,  with  all 
its  parts,  is  visible.  We  see  it.  We  feel  it. 
The  soul  is  invisible ;  but  it  is  not  less  a  real- 
ity because  we  do  not  see  it ;  no  more  than  is 
God,  because  we  do  not  see  him ;  no  more 
than  is  the  wind,  because  we  do  not  see  it. 
And  while  to  undertake  to  prove  the  exist- 
ence of  the  soul  seems  as  unnecessary  as  to 
prove  the  existence  of  the  body,  yet  is  it  well 
to  strengthen  our  faith  in  things  unseen  by  an 
occasional  review  of  great  principles,  until  our 
faith  shall  be   evidence  of  things  not  seen. 


The  Soul.  45 

And  in  the  present  discourse  we  invite  your 
attention  to 

The  soul  and  its  properties. 

What  is  the  soul  ?  This  is  a  question  that 
has  been  variously  answered,  and  especially 
by  those  ignorant  of  the  Scriptures  or  reject- 
ing its  instructions.  Some  have  thought  it  to 
be  a  subtle  air  composed  of  atoms.  Some 
have  maintained  that  it  was  a  flame,  or  a  por- 
tion of  heavenly  light.  Some  make  thinking 
the  essence  of  the  soul.  Some  have  taught 
that  men  are  endowed  with  three  kinds  of 
soul — the  rational,  the  sensitive,  and  the  veg- 
etative ;  and,  were  it  not  for  the  light  and  in- 
structions of  heaven  upon  this  subject,  man 
would  become  bewildered  in  the  mazes  of  his 
speculations.  Conscious  of  the  working  with- 
in him  of  that  which  no  modification  of  mat- 
ter could  produce  —  that  he  was  a  combina- 
tion of  the  spiritual  and  of  the  material,  of  the 
thinking  and  the  thoughtless — he  would  seek 
after  the  nature  of  the  spirit  within  him  until 
lost  in  the  profundity  of  his  ignorance,  or  be- 
wildered in  the  heights  of  his  imaginings; 
ever  learning,  but  never  coming  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  the  truth. 

From  this  endless  dreaming  as  to  the  soul, 


46         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

God  has  mercifully  delivered  us  by  the  reve- 
lations of  his  Word,  from  which  we  learn  that 
man  was  made  in  the  image  of  God.  God 
made  matter,  but  not  in  his  image,  for  God  is 
immaterial ;  so  that  man  being  made  in  the  im- 
age and  likeness  of  God,  must  have  reference 
to  his  spiritual  nature — his  soul — because  it  is 
uncompounded,  indivisible,  capable  of  thought 
and  activity,  and  immortal.  So  that  the  soul 
is  the  vital,  immaterial  substance  in  man 
whereby  he  perceives,  reasons,  remembers, 
and  wills ;  and  it  is  rather  to  be  described  by 
its  operations  than  to  be  defined  by  its  es- 
sence. We  are  conscious  that  it  differs  from 
the  body  and  matter.  Our  body,  like  that  of 
other  animals,  is  made  of  the  dust.  All  ma- 
terial things  are  made  of  dust.  But,  to  distin- 
guish man  from  all  other  animals,  he  was 
made  a  living  soul. 

Such  being  the  soul,  we  remark,  as  to  its 
properties, 

1.  That  it  is  a  simple  substance.  The 
soul  is  one  single  agent,  and  not  made  up  of 
several  parts.  In  this  respect  it  is  like  to 
God  and  to  angels.  In  this  respect  it  differs 
from  all  material  substances.  These  are 
made  up  of  parts,  and  dissolve  on  the  separa- 


The  Soul.  47 

tion  of  those  parts.  The  soul,  because  a  sim- 
ple substance,  can  not  be  thus  separated,  and 
can  not  therefore  perish.  We  often  say  that 
the  mind  reasons,  that  the  heart  feels,  that  the 
conscience  approves  or  condemns,  that  the 
will  decides,  as  if  all  these  were  different 
parts  of  the  soul.  But  it  is  the  one  indivisi- 
ble, rational,  feeling,  moral,  self-determining 
soul  that  reasons,  feels,  approves,  condemns, 
or  decides.  These  are  the  acts  of  the  one 
agent — the  soul ;  just  as  walking,  running,  ly- 
ing down,  fighting,  are  acts  of  the  same  body. 
The  soul  is  a  simple  substance. 

2.  The  soul  is  a  thinking  substance.  Think- 
ing beings  are  the  only  beings  that  are  active, 
that  originate  changes,  that  commence  opera- 
tions in  reference  to  future  results,  that  con- 
trive, invent,  and  direct  unconscious  objects 
to  their  proper  uses.  Animals  have  instincts 
sometimes  approaching  reason,  but  they  know 
not  God,  nor  moral  distinctions,  and  are  not 
the  subjects  of  moral  government.  What  be- 
ing in  this  lower  world  thinks  but  man  ?  And 
that  thought  inheres  in  the  soul — is  of  its  very 
nature — is  obvious.  Atoms  do  not  think.  If 
they  do  not  think  separately,  neither  can  they 
collectively.     You  may  arrange  them  as  you 


48         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

may,  yet  they  can  not  think.  You  may  atten- 
uate matter — you  may  subject  it  to  chemical 
processes — you  may  form  it  into  the  most  ex- 
quisite machinery,  yet  it  will  not  think.  That 
steamer,  that  walks  over  the  ocean  as  a  thing 
of  life — that  sewing-machine,  that  seems  to  ri- 
val the  skill  of  human  fingers — that  machinery, 
which  drives  a  thousand  spindles  with  a  reg- 
ularity which  astonishes — that  watch,  which 
moves  with  the  regularity  of  the  sun,  do  not 
think.  The  soul  of  that  child,  just  rising  into 
thoughtfulness,  infinitely  surpasses  them  all, 
because  it  thinks.  It  is  only  the  immaterial 
soul  that  thinks. 

3.  The  soul  possesses  affections.  God  is  a 
being  of  infinite  affections.  He  loves  the  good, 
he  hates  the  evil.  He  is  the  subject  of  infinite 
joy  in  himself.  And  the  soul  of  man  is  like 
him  in  these  respects.  In  its  state  of  holiness, 
before  darkened  and  corrupted  by  sin,  it  loved 
the  good,  it  hated  the  evil,  it  rejoiced  in  moral 
virtue ;  and  its  affections  are  yet  the  great 
springs  from  which  proceed  its  actions.  As 
the  mind  loves  or  hates,  rejoices  or  sorrows, 
so  it  acts.  Its  affections  direct  its  contempla- 
tions, and  give  direction  to  all  our  pursuits  and 
associations.     They  form  the  bond  of  union 


The  Soul.  49 

between  families,  communities,  and  states. 
Without  affections  man  would  be  as  a  stork, 
and  the  world  would  be  a  desert. 

4.  The  soul  is  immortal.  The  body  and 
soul  of  man  were  originally  designed  for  im- 
mortality. After  the  fall,  the  body  was  sen- 
tenced to  return  to  the  dust  from  which  it  was 
made,  but  the  soul  was  left  possessed  of  the 
never-dying  principle  with  which  it  was  en- 
dowed. Save  by  the  power  which  created  it, 
it  was  incapable  of  dissolution.  But,  turning 
aside  from  arguments  like  these  to  prove  the 
existence  and  immortality  of  the  soul,  let  us 
address  ourselves  for  a  moment  to  your  own 
consciousness. 

You  are  conscious  of  the  power  of  reflec- 
tion. You  review  the  past — you  recall  at  will 
the  acts  and  scenes  of  former  days — you  cause 
them  to  pass  in  review  before  you — you  pass 
along  the  various  links  which  form  the  chain 
of  history  until  you  reach  the  origin  of  man — 
you  draw  lessons  from  the  great  facts  and  in- 
cidents which  meet  you  by  the  way  for  the 
guidance  of  your  own  course.  No  animal 
around  you  is  capable  of  doing  this.  The  le- 
viathan of  the  deep,  the  monarch  of  the  forest, 

the  eagle — the  king  of  birds — know  not  who 

D 


50         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

or  what  was  before  them.  And  what  is  it  in 
you  that  enables  you  to  do  what  these  do  not  ? 
Your  soul. 

You  are  conscious  of  the  power  of  inven- 
tion. All  possess  it  in  kind ;  some  to  a  re- 
markable degree.  The  world  is  full  of  its  ef- 
fects. These  effects  you  see  in  architecture, 
in  sculpture,  in  painting,  in  all  the  mechanic 
arts.  They  are  such  as  often  to  astonish. 
But  what  has  any  mere  animal  ever  invent- 
ed ?  What  improvement  has  the  beaver  ever 
made  on  its  original  dam  ?  or  the  bee  in  its 
comb  ?  or  the  bird  in  its  nest  ?  And  what  is 
it  that  enables  you  to  do  what  these  do  not  ? 
It  is  your  soul. 

You  are  conscious  of  an  anxious  desire  of 
forecasting  the  future.  And  such  is  our  so- 
licitude upon  this  matter,  and  the  absurd  and 
wicked  conduct  to  which  it  is  liable  to  lead 
us,  that  we  are  repeatedly  commanded  to  take 
no  undue  thought  for  to-morrow.  How  rap- 
idly, in  thought,  we  pass  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  things !  How  often  we  withhold 
our  hand  from  an  act,  fearing  its  conse- 
quences !  How  often  we  rush  to  a  future 
judgment,  and  decide  upon  things  here  in  the 
light  of  the  aspect  they  will  assume   there ! 


The  Soul.  51 

When  in  present  pain,  how  eagerly  we  antici- 
pate future  relief!  How  the  joys  that  are 
placed  before  us  make  us  to  feel  that  present 
afflictions  are  but  for  a  moment !  And  how 
our  souls  are  cast  down  within  us  when  clouds 
and  darkness  rest  upon  the  future !  No  ani- 
mal around  you  is  capable  of  exercises  like 
these.  Sufficient  is  the  good  or  evil  of  each 
returning  day  to  them.  And  if  the  ant  builds 
her  store-house  in  the  summer,  and  fills  it  with 
provisions  for  the  winter,  it  builds  it  where 
the  tread  of  a  beast  may  crush  it  to  atoms, 
or  where  the  descending  rains  may  sweep  it 
away.  And  what  is  it  in  you  that  enables 
you  to  do  what  these  do  not  ?  We  again  re- 
ply, it  is  your  soul. 

You  are  conscious  of  a  desire  for  happiness 
which  nothing  earthly  satisfies.  Wealth  prom- 
ises happiness ;  but,  when  obtained,  it  only 
brings  anxious  care.  Station  promises  hap- 
piness ;  but  it  subjects  us  to  the  jealousies  of 
others,  and  withholds  what  it  promised.  Sens- 
ual gratification  promises  happiness  ;  but  the 
pleasures  of  sense  are  only  those  which  we 
enjoy  in  common  with  the  brute.  Open  to 
man  all  the  fountains  of  earthly  pleasure — per- 
mit him  to  drink  freely  of  them  all,  and  his 


52         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

desires  for  happiness  are  all  unquenched ;  yes, 
more,  they  are  stronger  than  ever.  And  why 
is  this  ?  Oh  !  man  has  a  living  soul,  that  was 
made  for  God,  and  that  nothing  beneath  God 
can  fill ;  and,  until  God  is  its  portion,  its 
burning  thirst  for  happiness  will  remain  un- 
satisfied. 

And  this  soul  is  to  live  forever.  Some  of 
the  arguments  to  prove  this  we  have  just 
stated.  As  it  is  not  material,  consisting  of 
parts,  it  is  incapable  of  dissolution.  Its  pow- 
ers are  not,  and  can  not  be,  the  result  of  ma- 
terial organization.  It  perceives  the  present, 
recalls  the  past,  and  anticipates  the  future.  It 
rises  from  earth  to  the  study  and  contempla- 
tion of  the  phenomena  of  nature  in  the  most 
distant  fields  of  creation.  By  a  process  of 
reasoning,  it  traces  causes  to  their  effects, 
and  effects  to  their  causes ;  and,  through  the 
works  of  God,  it  goes  up  to  the  High  and 
Lofty  One  that  inhabits  eternity !  It  ascer- 
tains our  relations  to  God  and  to  man,  and 
the  various  duties  growing  out  of  those  rela- 
tions. Is  it  conceivable  that  God  would  kin- 
dle up  such  a  light  within  us  to  burn  for  a 
few  years,  and  then  quench  it  forever  ? 

And  the  operations  of  conscience  prove  the 


The  Soul.  53 

endless  life  of  the  soul.  The  mind  judges  of 
truth  and  error — the  conscience  of  right  and 
wrong.  The  conscience  enjoins  the  right 
and  forbids  the  wrong,  and  points  to  a  coming 
judgment  where  we  shall  be  judged  according 
to  the  deeds  done  in  the  body.  And  why  this 
internal  monitor,  to  admonish  of  future  exist- 
ence, if  there  is  no  such  existence  ? 

What  reason  thus  renders  probable,  the 
Scriptures  place  beyond  all  doubt,  as  Jesus 
Christ  has  brought  life  and  immortality  to 
light  by  the  Gospel.  The  Scriptures  do  not 
so  much  prove  the  immortality  of  the  soul 
as  they  take  it  for  granted,  and  give  such  in- 
formation in  reference  to  it  as  practically  to 
influence  the  conduct  of  men.  David  says, 
"  Into  thy  hand  I  commit  my  spirit ;"  and 
these  were  the  words  of  the  expiring  Savior ; 
and  the  last  words  of  Stephen  were,  "  Lord 
Jesus,  receive  my  spirit."  What  do  these, 
and  all  such  phrases  mean,  unless  the  soul 
lives  after  its  separation  from  the  body  ?  In 
describing  death,  Solomon  says,  "  Then  shall 
the  dust  return  to  the  dust  as  it  was,  and  the 
spirit  shall  return  unto  God  who  gave  it." 
And  what  does  this  mean,  unless  the  soul 
lives  after  the  death  of  the  body  ?     In  the 


54         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

parable  of  Dives  and  Lazarus,  the  Savior 
teaches  us  that  Dives  died  and  went  to  hell, 
and  that  Lazarus  died  and  was  carried  by 
angels  to  Abraham's  bosom  ;  and  to  the  thief 
on  the  cross  the  Savior  said,  "  To-day  shalt 
thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise."  Of  course  it 
was  his  soul  that  went  to  Paradise.  The  Sav- 
ior says,  as  to  his  believing  people,  "I  give 
unto  them  eternal  life,  and  they  shall  never 
perish,  neither  shall  any  pluck  them  out  of 
my  hand ;"  and  again  he  says,  "  I  go  to  pre- 
pare a  place  for  you  ;  and  if  I  go,  I  will  come 
again  and  receive  you  to  myself,  that  where  I 
am  there  ye  may  be  also."  And  John,  in 
Patmos,  on  seeing  the  multitude  which  no 
man  can  number,  clothed  in  white,  standing 
before  the  throne,  asked,  Who  are  these  ?  And 
the  angel  answered,  "  These  are  they  who 
have  come  out  of  many  tribulations  —  who 
have  washed  their  robes,  and  made  them  white 
in  the  blood  of  the  Lamb." 

Such,  then,  is  the  soul,  and  such  are  its 
properties,  and  such  are  the  evidences  which 
prove  its  immortality.  And  as  the  first  man, 
Adam,  was  made  a  living  soul,  so  are  we  all 
made.  A  soul  more  valuable  than  worlds, 
bearing  upon  it  the  impress  of  immortality,  is 


The  Soul.  55 

in  the  possession  of  us  all ;  and  we  can  each 
say,  in  the  sweet  words  of  Montgomery, 

"  Time  grows  not  old  with  length  of  years — 
Changes  he  brings,  but  changes  not : 
New-born  each  moment  he  appears — 
We  run  our  race,  and  are  forgot. 

"  Stars  in  perennial  rounds  return, 
As  from  eternity  they  came, 
And  to  eternity  might  burn — 

We  are  not  for  one  hour  the  same. 

"  Spring  flowers  renew  their  wild  perfume, 
But  ere  a  second  sj)rmg  they  fly ; 
For  life  is  longer  than  their  bloom; — 
Our  bloom  is  sweeter,  yet  we  die. 

"  Yet  stars,  like  flowers,  have  but  their  day ; 
And  Time,  like  stars,  shall  cease  to  roll ; 
We  have  what  never  can  decay — 
A  living  and  immortal  soul." 

With  a  few  of  the  practical  lessons  which 
it  teaches  we  will  close  this  important  subject. 

1.  It  teaches  us  hoiv  illustrious  a  being  is 
man.  Before  created  by  God,  this  world  was 
fitted  up  for  his  residence.  It  was  only  when 
the  earth  was  carpeted  with  beauty,  and  the 
sky  spread  over  it  its  magnificent  curtains, 
and  the  sun,  moon,  and  stars  were  hung  up  to 
illumine  it  by  day  and  by  night,  that  man  was 
ushered  into  it  to  be  its  -tenant  and  its  lord. 
And  how  fearfully  and  wonderfully  is  he  made ! 


56         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

He  has  a  body,  like  the  animals  that  were  made 
for  his  service  and  use.  This  is  seen  and 
temporal.  This  must  return  to  the  dust  as 
it  was.  But,  unlike  all  animals,  he  has  a  soul, 
because  immaterial,  immortal !  That  soul  is 
unseen  and  eternal.  It  will  live  as  long  as 
God  lives.  Well  might  Paul  say,  "  Thou  hast 
made  him  but  a  little  lower  than  the  angels ; 
thou  hast  clothed  him  with  glory  and  honor." 
And,  were  we  disposed  to  worship  any  being 
or  thing  beneath  God,  there  is  nothing  out  of 
heaven  before  which  we  would  sooner  bow  in 
homage  than  before  regenerated  man,  and 
for  the  reason  that  he  is  in  the  possession  of 
a  living,  renewed,  immortal  soul,  destined  for 
an  eternal  life  in  heaven.  My  dear  hearers, 
do  we  ponder  sufficiently  our  illustrious  de- 
scent, or  our  eternal  destiny  ?  Our  souls  are 
to  live  forever  ! 

2.  It  teaches  the  great  value  of  the  soul 
above  the  body.  The  body  returns  to  the 
dust  as  it  was,  but  the  soul  must  return  to  the 
God  that  gave  it.  And,  on  the  common  prin- 
ciple that  things  of  the  greatest  value  receive 
the  geatest  care,  how  far  beyond  our  care  for 
the  body  should  be  our  care  for  the  soul! 
And  yet,  alas !  to  what  a  degree  is  the  reverse 


The  Soul.  57 

of  this  true  !  The  fond  mother  will  cradle  her 
infant  in  clown — will  care  for  her  child  with 
sleepless  solicitude — will  have  it  educated  with 
all  care,  and  by  the  best  masters  her  means 
can  afford — will  fit  it  for  the  stage  of  life  at 
any  expense,  and  yet  will  overlook  its  im- 
mortal soul !  Are  there  no  such  mothers  ? 
The  father  will  rise  with  the  sun  of  every  day, 
and  retire  weary  to  rest  at  night,  and  for  half 
a  century  of  years,  toiling  to  accumulate  rich- 
es for  himself  and  family,  and  yet  never  spend 
a  day  of  serious  thought  as  to  the  future  of 
his  own  soul,  or  the  souls  of  those  for  whom 
he  is  laying  up  earthly  treasures !  Are  there 
no  such  fathers  ?  Are  there  not  many  now 
under  the  sound  of  my  voice  who  daily  feed, 
dress,  and  garnish  the  body — who  attend  to  its 
every  want,  pain,  ache,  with  the  utmost  punc- 
tuality— who  will  spend  any  amount  of  money 
to  repair  its  diseased  functions,  and  who  yet 
live  in  the  utter  neglect  of  their  souls  ?  Nor 
can  we  account  for  the  alarming  neglect  of 
the  soul,  which  is  so  visible  on  every  hand, 
save  on  the  ground  of  a  latent  and  wide- 
spread infidelity  as  to  its  existence.  And  yet 
that  careless,  reckless,  and,  it  may  be,  that  pro- 
fane and  degraded  man,  would  be  loud  in  his 


58         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

anathemas  against  our  preaching  if  we  taught 
that  man  has  not  a  living  soul — that  he  is  as 
the  brutes  that  perish.  And  yet  there  is  no 
way  of  accounting  for  his  conduct  save  on  the 
ground  that  he  believes  that  he  is  no  higher 
than  the  brutes  in  the  scale  of  being — that  his 
motto  is,  "  Let  us  eat  and  drink,  for  to-morrow 
we  die."  My  hearers,  we  ask  you  not  to  neg- 
lect the  body,  but  we  implore  you  not  to  forget 
the  soul,  which  is  to  the  body  as  the  sun  is  to 
the  glow-worm.  We  ask  you  not  to  disre- 
gard the  things  that  are  seen  and  temporal, 
but  we  implore  you  duly  to  regard  the  things 
which  are  unseen  and  eternal. 

3.  It  teaches  the  value  of  the  salvation  of 
the  soul.  It  is  immortal,  and  has  to  spend  its 
eternity  in  heaven  or  in  hell.  Hence  the  val- 
ue of  its  salvation.  Ought  it  not  to  be  our 
first  care  ?  True,  we  are  surrounded  by  daily 
cares,  and  duties,  and  crosses;  but  the  soul 
should  be  our  first  care  ;  "  for  what  is  a  man 
profited  if  he  should  gain  the  whole  world  and 
lose  his  soul  ?  or  what  would  a  man  give  in 
exchange  for  his  soul  ?" 

There  is  a  buyer  in  the  market  of  the  world 
whose  name  is  never  in  the  newspapers,  and 
whose  bids  are  never  in  the  "  Prices  Current." 


The  Soul.  59 

Yet  is  his  business  extensive  and  successful. 
He  walks  boldly  on  'Change ;  he  glides  into 
the  bank  and  counting-house ;  he  steps  into 
the  workshop ;  he  goes  out  upon  the  farm ; 
the  tavern,  the  theatre,  the  ball-room,  are  the 
places  of  his  greatest  success.  He  is  every 
where  to  be  found  in  the  pursuit  of  his  own 
business.  But  who  is  he  ?  He  is  the  buyer 
of  souls.  His  object  is  to  find  out  what  price 
each  one  will  take  in  exchange  for  his  soul. 
He  paid  to  Judas  for  his  soul  only  thirty  pieces 
of  silver.  He  has  bought  some  for  less  ;  but 
for  wealth,  station,  name,  fame — for  the  noisy 
breath  of  the  fickle  multitude,  which  changes 
from  hosannas  to  execrations  with  the  chang- 
ing wind,  how  many  are  exchanging  their 
souls !  Yes,  for  the  guilty,  transient,  unsatis- 
fying pleasures  of  an  hour,  how  many  around 
us  are  bartering  away  their  immortal  souls ! 

It  is  narrated  of  a  certain  merchant,  engaged 
in  a  very  profitable  business,  that  he  was  once 
deeply  moved  as  to  his  salvation.  A  friend 
set  before  him  the  riches  of  earth  and  of  heav- 
en. Pausing  for  some  moments,  he  said,  "  Give 
me  my  portion  here."  He  went  on,  and  accu- 
mulated a  large  fortune,  and  when  he  was  dy- 
ing he  said  to  the  same  friend,  "  I  have  gained 
the  world,  but  I  have  lost  my  soul." 


THINGS  UNSEEN  AND  ETEENAL. 


INTERMEDIATE  STATE. 

"  Then  shall  the  dust  return  to  the  earth  as  it  was,  and  the 
spirit  shall  return  unto  God  who  gave  it." — JEJcclesiastes,  xii.,  V. 

Man  is  fearfully  and  wonderfully  made. 
He  was  formed  last  of  all  the  creatures  of 
God,  as  the  master-piece  of  the  Creator.  He 
is  a  compendium  of  the  creation — a  little  world 
in  miniature — uniting  in  himself  something  of 
the  vegetable,  the  animal,  and  the  rational. 
His  main  constituent  and  essential  elements 
are  two  —  the  body,  and  the  soul  or  spirit. 
The  one  was  made  out  of  the  dust ;  it  is  ma- 
terial and  visible.  Never  was  there  made 
such  a  perfect,  beautiful  piece  of  machinery, 
with  each  part  so  exactly  adapted  to  every 
other.  The  other  part,  the  soul  or  spirit,  was 
breathed  into  it.  It  is  spiritual  and  invisible. 
It  is  not  an  accident  of  matter,  nor  a  quality 


62         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

inherent  in  it.  It  lives  out  of  the  body,  and, 
perhaps,  better  than  in  it.  It  is  a  spiritual 
substance,  immaterial  and  immortal. 

In  the  present  life,  this  body  and  spirit  are 
mysteriously  united  together.  The  body  is 
to  the  soul  as  is  the  case  to  the  clock — as  is 
the  instrument  to  the  agent.  What  disposi- 
tion God  would  have  made  of  man  had  he 
never  sinned  we  know  not.  As  this  planet 
could  not  contain  all  the  successive  genera- 
tions of  Adam,  he  would  not  continue  him 
here.  But  hoiv,  or  ichere  would  he  remove 
him  ?  This  we  may  not  know ;  but  it  would 
not  be  by  death,  for  death  is  a  penal  evil.  Nor 
would  the  body  and  spirit  be  separated  as 
now — the  body,  without  the  soul,  to  return  to 
the  earth  as  it  was,  and  the  soul,  without  the 
body,  to  return  to  the  God  that  gave  it. 

But  sin  has  entered  into  the  world,  and 
death  by  sin;  and  all  die,  because  all  have 
sinned.  And  when  the  silver  cord  is  loosed, 
and  the  golden  bowl  is  broken — that  is,  when 
death  occurs — then  the  body  returns  to  the 
dust  as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  returns  to  God 
who  gave  it.  And  this  is  the  universal  law 
as  to  our  humanity. 

Take  any  one  of  the  multitude  of  cases  that 


Intermediate  State.  63 

are  evermore  taking  place.  There  is  a  par- 
ent watching  by  the  bed  of  a  dying  child. 
Slow,  but  certain,  is  the  progress  of  disease. 
Life  is  driven  from  one  fortress  to  another 
until  it  is  made  to  surrender.  And  the  change 
it  makes  is  at  once  affecting  and  appalling. 
However  familiar  with  it,  death  always  in- 
duces solemnity  and  reflection.  The  body  is 
taken  to  the  grave,  and  the  mourners  go  about 
the  streets.  This  is  all  seen  and  temporal. 
But  where  does  the  soul  go  ?  This  is  the 
question  which  nature  and  religion  alike  sug- 
gest. 

We  have  already,  in  our  present  series  of 
discourses  on  things  unseen  and  eternal, 
placed  before  you  a  future  world,  the  being 
of  a  God,  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul. 
And  our  object  in  the  present  discourse  is  to 
discuss  before  you, 

The  state  of  the  soul  between  death 
and  the  resurrection. 

Whether  this  is  a  subject  more  theoretical 
than  practical,  we  can  better  decide  at  the  close 
of  the  discussion  than  now.  It  is  a  subject  in 
which  we  all  have  the  deepest  interest,  as  we 
all  have  friends  who  have  passed  through  the 
gates  of  death,  and  as  we  have  each  soon 


64         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

to  pass  through  them  for  ourselves.  Where, 
then,  does  the  soul  go  at  death  ?  This  ques- 
tion opens  up  our  whole  subject,  and  has  re- 
ceived different  answers  more  or  less  remote 
from  the  truth.  As  we  have  already  proved 
the  immortality  of  the  soul,  we  have  nothing 
now  to  do  save  with  those  who  believe  in  its 
future  existence. 

1.  Sortie  tell  us  that  at  death  the  soul  goes 
to  an  intermediate  state,  there  to  await  the 
resurrection  and  the  judgment.  This  theory 
is  founded  on  a  criticism  on  the  terms  used 
to  express  the  state  o.f  the  soul  after  death. 
One  of  these  terms  is  "  Hades"  («<^e).  This 
is  the  term  used  in  these  and  other  passages : 
"  The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
it"  (Matt.,  xvi.,  18).  "  In  hell  he  lifted  up  his 
eyes,  being  in  torments"  (Luke,  xvi.,  23). 
"  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  helV  (Acts, 
ii.,  27).  "O  grave,  where  is  thy  victory?" 
(1  Cor.,  xv.,  55).  Another  of  these  terms  is 
"Abrahams  bosom'  (koXttoc  "Afipaaju).  "And 
it  came  to  pass  that  the  beggar  died,  and  was 
carried  by  angels  into  Abraham's  bosom" 
(Luke,  xvi.,  23).  Another  of  these  terms  is 
" heaven'  (ovpavog),  and  the  one  most  frequent- 
ly used  ;  as,  "  Our  Father,  who  art  in  heaven" 


Intermediate  State.  65 

(Matt,  vi.,  9).  "Blessed  are  the  poor  in 
spirit,  for  theirs  is  the  kingdom  of  heaven' 
(Matt.,  v.,  3).  "  Rejoice,  and  be  exceeding 
glad,  for  great  is  your  reward  in  heaven' 
(v.,  12).  Another  of  these  terms  is  Paradise 
(napaSuaog).  "  This  day,"  said  Jesus  to  the 
dying  malefactor — the  penitent  thief — "  this 
day  shalt  thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise" 
(Luke,  xxiii.,  43).  Another  of  these  terms  is 
"  Tartarus"  (Taprapog).  "  For,  if  God  spared 
not  the  angels  that  sinned,  but  cast  them 
down  to  hell"  (2  Pet.,  ii.,  4).  And  another 
of  these  terms  is  "  Gehenna."  "  But  whoso- 
ever shall  say  to  his  brother,  Thou  fool,  shall 
be  in  danger  of  hell  fire"  (Matt,  v.,  22).  "  For 
it  is  profitable  for  thee  that  one  of  thy  mem- 
bers should  perish,  and  not  that  thy  whole 
body  should  be  cast  into  hell"  (Matt.,  v.,  29). 
These,  then,  are  the  words  and  phrases  used 
in  the  New  Testament  to  represent  the  state 
into  which  the  soul  passes  at  death :  they 
are  Hades,  Abraham's  bosom,  Heaven,  Para- 
dise, Tartarus,  Gehenna.  They  are  all  applied 
to  the  invisible  state,  into  which  the  soul  en- 
ters at  death.  That  state  is  represented  as 
two  provinces  divided  by  a  great  gulf;  that 
on  the  one  side  is  called  "  Abraham's  bosom," 

E 


66        Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

"  Heaven,"  "  Paradise ;"  that  on  the  other  is 
called  "  Hades,"  "  Tartarus,"  "  Gehenna."  In 
these  provinces  the  souls  of  the  good  and  of 
the  bad  are  retained  until  the  resurrection  and 
the  final  judgment ;  then  the  good  enter  Heav- 
en, and  the  bad  Hell,  properly  so  called.  This 
is,  in  brief,  the  doctrine  of  an  intermediate 
state,  as  held  by  many  Protestants  and  di- 
vines. 

But,  while  this  theory  admits  the  immor- 
tality of  the  soul,  conscious  existence  after 
death,  and  experience  of  happiness  and  mis- 
ery— while  it  falls  in  with  the  general  belief 
that  rewards  and  punishments  will  not  be 
consummated  until  after  the  resurrection  and 
the  judgment,  yet  must  we  reject  it  as  a  the- 
ory which  has  nothing  to  sustain  it  but  a 
doubtful  criticism,  which  only  scholars  can 
fully  understand,  and  the  wresting  of  a  few 
words  from  their  figurative  to  a  literal  mean- 
ing. This  doctrine  of  an  intermediate  state 
rests  upon  a  vapor,  is  utterly  unsatisfactory 
to  the  thoughtful  mind,  and  is  opposed,  as  we 
shall  soon  show,  to  some  of  the  plainest 
teachings  of  the  Scriptures.  We  therefore 
dismiss  it  as  unworthy  of  credence. 

2.  Another  theory  as  to  the  state  of  the  soul 


Intermediate  State.  67 

between  death  and  the  resurrection  is  that  it 
lies  in  an  unconscious  state.  But  this  is  in 
opposition  to  all  our  notions  as  to  spirit,  which 
is  a  living,  thinking,  active  subsistence,  capa- 
ble of  life  and  activity  without  a  body  as  with 
a  body.  God  has  neither  body  nor  parts,  and 
he  is  ever  active.  So  is  it  as  to  angels.  And 
the  separation  of  the  soul  from  the  body  would 
seem  rather  to  quicken  its  energies  than  to 
reduce  it  to  insensibility.  Is  it  not  a  fact  that, 
the  more  active  the  mind,  the  less  we  think  of 
the  body  ?  As  pent-up  fires  burn  the  bright- 
er when  relieved  from  the  earth  or  ashes  un- 
der which  they  smoulder,  so  the  soul,  when 
it  leaves  its  clay  tabernacle,  is  the  more  free 
to  exert  its  natural  energies. 

But  the  advocates  of  this  theory  oppose  all 
these  reasonings  with  scriptures,  which  seem 
to  intimate  that  the  soul  at  death  falls  into  a 
state  of  unconsciousness.  Thus  David  says, 
"  Return  unto  thy  rest,  O  my  soul,  for  the 
Lord  hath  dealt  bountifully  with  thee"  (Ps. 
cxvi.,  7).  Again  he  says,  "  The  dead  praise 
not  the  Lord,  neither  any  that  go  down  into 
silence"  (Ps.  cxv.,  17).  And  again  he  says, 
"  Shall  thy  loving  kindness  be  declared  in  the 
grave,   or    thy    faithfulness    in    destruction  ? 


68         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

Shall  thy  wonders  be  known  in  the  dark, 
and  thy  righteousness  in  the  land  of  forget- 
fulness  ?"  (Ps.  lxxxviii.,  11, 12).  And  so,  also, 
death  is  represented  as  a  sleep.  Thus  Jesus 
said,  "  Our  friend  Lazarus  sleepeth,  but  I  go 
that  I  may  wake  him  out  of  his  sleep."  It  is 
said  of  Stephen,  when  he  died,  that  "  he  fell 
asleep."  And,  speaking  of  the  resurrection, 
Paul  says  (1  Thess.,  iv.,  14),  "  For  if  we  be- 
lieve that  Jesus  died  and  rose  again,  even  so 
them  also  which  sleep  in  Jesus  will  God  bring 
with  him."  It  is  upon  these  and  similar  texts 
that  such  men  as  Whately  base  the  theory 
of  an  unconscious  state  of  the  soul  between 
death  and  the  resurrection. 

Now  to  us  it  is  very  obvious  that  these  and 
all  similar  passages  are  figurative  and  meta- 
phorical, and  must  be  so  explained.  All  that 
David  meant  is  that  the  dead  can  not  any 
longer  praise  God  in  this  world — that  the  won- 
ders of  his  providence  can  not  be  known  by 
the  sleepers  in  the  tomb — that  only  the  living 
can  take  any  part  in  advancing  the  glory 
of  God  here.  And  the  dead  are  said  to 
be  asleep,  because  of  the  remarkable  resem- 
blance between  death  and  sleep.  This  theo- 
ry also  we  dismiss  as  unworthy  of  credence. 


Intermediate  State.  69 

3.  There  is  yet  another  theory  as  to  the 
state  of  departed  souls.  It  is  that  of  the 
Church  of  Rome,  which  is  not  worthy  of  se- 
rious argument  to  disprove  it.  It  teaches 
that,  as  none  die  perfectly  holy,  all  must  pass 
through  the  fires  of  Purgatory  in  order  to  be 
prepared  for  heaven.  This  is  not  a  doctrine 
of  the  Bible.  It  is  borrowed  from  the  sixth 
book  of  Virgil's  iEneid,  where  an  account  is 
given  of  the  processes  through  which  souls 
must  go  in  order  to  be  prepared  for  the  Elys- 
ian  Fields.  As  we  are  dealing  with  Chris- 
tian, and  not  heathen  theories,  we  can  afford 
to  lay  this  aside  as  unworthy  of  farther  no- 
tice. To  talk  of  a  soul  being  purified  by  fire 
is  at  once  to  render  it  material  and  destructi- 
ble. Purgatory  is  not  only  untrue  as  a  theo- 
ry, but  it  is  a  physical  impossibility. 

To  the  question,  Where  does  the  soul  go 
at  death  ?  we  answer, 

4.  It  returns  to  the  God  who  gave  it.  At 
death,  the  body  becomes  cold  and  corruptible  ; 
it  is  soon  conveyed  to  the  grave,  where  it  re- 
turns to  the  dust  as  it  was.  The  soul  goes 
immediately  to  the  presence  of  its  God.  If 
prepared  for  blessedness,  it  will  enter  upon 
its  destined  happiness  without  pause,  suspen- 


70         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

sion,  or  intermediate  preparation.  If  not  pre- 
pared, without  any  respite  or  reprieve  it  will 
enter  upon  its  destined  misery.  No  dreamy 
slumber,  no  drowsy  torpor,  will  seal  up  the 
faculties  of  the  soul;  it  knows  no  state  of  hy- 
bernation until  spring  shall  revisit  the  grave 
in  which  the  body  lies  mourning ;  it  goes  im- 
mediately to  God,  to  receive  from  him,  as 
judge,  according  to  the  deeds  done  in  the 
body.  And  of  all  this  we  think  we  have 
abundant  scriptural  proof. 

Take  your  stand  by  the  bier  of  Lazarus, 
who,  although  a  child  of  God,  seems  deserted 
of  heaven  and  of  earth.  He  dies,  and  his  soul 
is  carried  "  by  angels  into  Abraham's  bosom," 
which  is  but  a  figurative  name  for  heaven. 
Dives,  at  whose  gate  he  was  laid,  in  vain,  for 
alms,  also  died,  and  was  buried  ;  and  the  next 
we  read  of  him  is  "  that  in  hell  he  lifted  up 
his  eyes,  being  in  torments."  We  admit  that 
the  Gospel  narrative  as  to  these  is  a  parable ; 
we  also  admit  that  we  can  not  give  to  its  fig- 
urative language  a  literal  interpretation ;  but 
then  its  great  central  truth  is  that  Lazarus 
went  immediately  to  a  state  of  ineffable  bliss, 
and  Dives  to  a  state  of  unspeakable  misery. 
And  this  is  the  doctrine  we  believe. 


Intermediate  State.  71 

Take  your  stand,  again,  before  those  three 
crosses,  on  the  centre  one  of  which  hung  the 
expiring  Son  of  God.  One  of  the  thieves  re- 
lented, repented,  and,  lifting  up  his  voice  amid 
the  agitations  and  the  convulsions  of  nature, 
cried  to  the  Savior,  "  Lord,  remember  me 
when  thou  comest  into  thy  kingdom."  It  was 
a  cry  for  mercy  amid  those  agonies  which 
were  loosing  the  silver  cord  and  breaking  the 
golden  bowl.  And  what  was  the  reply  of  the 
Savior  ?  "  Verily,  I  say  unto  thee,  to-day  shalt 
thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise" — which  is,  again, 
but  a  figurative  name  for  heaven.  What  mean 
these  words,  spoken  under  such  solemn  cir- 
cumstances ?  That  they  would  go  into  some 
intermediate  state  called  Paradise  ?  No.  That 
they  would  go  together  into  some  dreamy 
elysium,  some  comatose  state — he  to  awake 
after  three  days,  on  the  resurrection  of  his 
body,  and  the  penitent  man  to  remain  in  that 
state  till  the  resurrection  of  his  body  ?  Be- 
lieve this  who  can.  Christ  just  meant  what 
he  said  :  To-day — this  very  day  shalt  thou  be 
with  me  in  heaven,  to  share  with  me  its  joys 
and  its  repose.  And  thus  the  souls  of  all 
dying  in  the  faith  go  to  be  with  Jesus  in  Par- 
adise.    This  is  the  doctrine  we  believe. 


72         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

While  these  passages  are  sufficient  to 
prove  the  doctrine  that  the  soul  at  death  re- 
turns to  the  God  that  gave  it — that  the  souls 
of  believers,  at  death,  do  immediately  pass 
into  glory,  there  are  many  other  passages 
bearing  on  the  same  doctrine  to  which  we 
will  briefly  advert.  The  prayer  of  Stephen 
was,  "Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit."  Is  it 
not  plain  that  he  felt  and  believed  that  his 
soul  would  immediately  pass  into  the  presence 
of  his  Savior  ?  Paul  says  (2  Cor.,  v.,  1),  "  For 
we  know  that  if  our  earthly  house  of  this  tab- 
ernacle were  dissolved,  we  have  a  building  of 
God,  a  house  not  made  with  hands,  eternal  in 
the  heavens."  Now  what  does  this  mean  un- 
less at  death  we  pass  from  the  earthly  to  the 
heavenly  house  ?  And  what  does  he  mean 
when  he  says  (Phil.,  i.,  23),  "  For  I  am  in  a 
strait  betwixt  two,  having  a  desire  to  depart 
and  to  be  with  Christ,  which  is  far  better?" 
Did  he  not  obviously  believe  that  at  death 
he  would  immediately  pass  into  the  presence 
of  Christ  ?  And  what  does  he  mean  when 
he  says  (2  Cor.,  v.,  6,  8),  "  We  are  confident, 
knowing  that  while  we  are  at  home  in  the 
body  we  are  absent  from  the  Lord :  we  are 
confident,  I  say,  and  are  willing  rather  to  be 


Intermediate  State.  73 

absent  from  the  body  and  to  be  present  with 
the  Lord  ?"  Is  it  possible  for  language  to 
express  in  a  clearer  manner  the  immediate 
transition  of  the  soul  from  the  body  into  the 
presence  of  Christ  ?  What  detains  it  from 
his  presence  is  its  continuance  in  the  body ; 
what  introduces  it  into  his  presence  is  its  de- 
parture from  the  body ;  and  without  any  in- 
terval, as  our  admirable  Catechism  says,  "  the 
souls  of  believers,  at  their  death,  are  made 
perfect  in  holiness,  and  do  immediately  pass 
into  glory."  So  that  the  doctrine  of  an  inter- 
mediate state  is  a  fiction,  as  is  also  the  doc- 
trine of  Purgatory,  and  the  repose  of  the  soul 
in  unconsciousness  until  the  morning  of  the 
resurrection. 

Yet  is  it  true  that  when  the  body  and  soul, 
at  the  resurrection,  shall  be  reunited,  their 
capacity  for  joy  or  suffering  will  be  greatly 
increased.  Nor  will  the  bliss  of  heaven  be 
full  and  perfect  until  it  is  enjoyed  by  soul  and 
body  united,  nor  will  the  punishment  of  ever- 
lasting banishment  from  God  be  felt  to  the 
full  until  it  falls  upon  those  who  only  rise 
from  the  grave  to  shame  and  everlasting  con- 
tempt. 

Such   being   what   we   consider   the   true 


74         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

teachings  of  the  Scriptures  and  of  the  Church 
as  to  the  state  of  the  soul  between  death  and 
the  resurrection,  it  only  remains  for  us  to 
place  before  you  a  few  of  the  many  important 
lessons  which  it  teaches. 

1.  It  settles  the  destination  of  the  soul  at 
death.  And  this  can  not  be  a  matter  of  curi- 
ous speculation  to  any  of  us.  On  the  con- 
trary, how  often  has  it  been  to  us  all  a  sub- 
ject of  the  most  anxious  inquiry !  When  the 
heart  has  beat  its  last  pulsation,  and  we  have 
closed  the  eyes  of  a  dear  friend  in  death,  how 
often  has  the  question  arisen,  Oh  that  I  knew 
where  his  soul  has  gone !  And,  as  we  have 
returned  from  the  grave  where  we  have  laid  the 
body  to  sleep,  how  deeply  the  question  often 
presses  upon  the  heart,  Where  is  the  soul  now  ? 
The  body,  in  its  winding-sheet,  sleeps  in  the 
grave,  but  is  the  soul  asleep  also  ?  Whether 
our  dead  remember  us  as  we  remember  them, 
we  know  not ;  whether  they  see  us,  and  watch 
over  us,  and  minister  to  us,  we  may  not  know ; 
but  we  do  know  that  they  live — that  they  live 
with  God  or  away  from  God,  according  to  the 
character  they  bore  with  them  into  eternity. 
Away,  then,  with  the  dreary,  skeptical  philoso- 
phy which  would  wrap  up  the  soul  in  the  same 


Intermediate  State.  75 

winding-sheet  with  the  body,  and  which  would 
consign  it  to  sleep  with  the  body  until  the 
resurrection !  It  is  equally  at  war  with  the 
teachings  of  the  Scriptures,  and  with  the  natu- 
ral longings  of  every  human  soul.  At  death, 
the  soul,  without  a  moment's  stay,  returns  to 
the  God  that  gave  it. 

Death,  we  reason,  instead  of  weakening, 
vastly  increases  the  perceptive  powers  of  the 
soul.  It  is  freed  from  this  body  of  sin  and 
death  which  encumbers  it  as  does  a  weight 
the  eagle  that  seeks  to  soar  to  the  sun.  As 
death  closes  the  eyes  of  the  body,  it  opens 
those  of  the  soul ;  so  that  one  hour  after  death 
discovers  the  errors  of  many  ages.  We  are 
here  like  men  clambering  up  a  mountain  in  a 
dense  fog ;  when  they  reach  the  summit  the 
fog  suddenly  passes  away,  and  the  entire  land- 
scape lies  sun-gilt  before  them.  So,  when  the 
soul  at  death  returns  to  God,  we  shall  see  as 
we  are  seen,  and  know  as  we  are  known. 

2.  It  comforts  the  Christian  in  the  antici- 
pation of  death.  Death  is  the  leviathan  which 
all  fear.  It  is  not  in  human  nature  to  regard 
it  other  than  an  enemy.  We  stand  over  the 
bed  of  a  dying  friend.  The  quivering  lip — 
the   contracted  brow  —  the  laboring  breath, 


76        Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

prove  that  physical  pain  accompanies  death. 
But  what  the  struggling  soul  then  feels  we 
can  only  guess.  They  have  been  long  united, 
and  the  separation  of  those  long  united  gives 
pain.  Sometimes  the  pain  of  dying  is  beyond 
description,  and  hence  death  is  so  universal- 
ly regarded  as  an  enemy.  But  this  can  be 
all  calmly  and  joyfully  borne  when  we  know 
that  the  soul,  when  released  from  the  body, 
goes  directly  to  God  who  gave  it.  Hear  the 
Savior  say  to  the  penitent  thief,  "  To-day  shalt 
thou  be  with  me  in  Paradise."  Hear  Stephen 
say,  "  Lord,  into  thy  hands  I  commit  my  spir- 
it." See  the  soul  of  Lazarus,  the  moment  it 
quit  its  dilapidated  tenement,  conveyed  by  an- 
gels to  Abraham's  bosom.  And  thus  it  shall 
be  with  all  the  saints.  To  the  person  pre- 
pared for  the  event,  like  Lazarus,  death  comes 
only  to  lift  up  the  veil  of  the  flesh  from  the 
soul,  and  to  introduce  it  at  once  to  the  glories 
and  the  happiness  of  heaven.  I  have  stood 
at  the  death-bed  of  many  a  dying  saint,  and  it 
seemed  to  me  that,  had  I  but  another  sense, 
I  could  see  the  soul  taking  its  departure  from 
the  body,  like  a  bird  of  Paradise  freed  from 
its  confinement,  and  going  directly  to  heaven 
to  the  God  who  gave  it.     And  why  is  it  that, 


Intermediate  State.  77 

as  believers,  we  can  not  more  fully  realize  all 
this,  and  feel  less  fear  of  death,  which  is  but 
the  short  passage-way  to  glory  ?  Alas  !  we 
are  influenced  more  by  the  things  which  are 
seen  and  temporal  than  by  those  which  are 
unseen  and  eternal. 

3.  It  should  alarm  the  sinner  in  the  antici- 
pation of  death.  If  Lazarus  went  to  heaven 
at  death,  so  Dives  went  to  hell.  The  passage 
to  the  one  place  was  just  as  short  and  as  cer- 
tain as  to  the  other.  There  is  no  interme- 
diate state  —  no  Purgatory  —  no  chamber  of 
sleep  till  the  resurrection — no  annihilation  for 
the  wicked  !  Their  souls,  at  death,  go  directly 
to  God  as  judge.  Unclothed,  in  their  naked- 
ness, they  shall  stand  before  him  to  be  exam- 
ined, scanned,  pierced  through,  and  through, 
and  through  by  his  all-searching  eye.  And 
then  they  will  be  consigned  to  everlasting 
punishment  prepared  for  the  devil  and  his  an- 
gels !  And  how  important  to  be  prepared  for 
the  event  which  must  happen  to  all,  and  which 
at  any  hour  may  happen  to  any  of  us ! 

What  a  change  the  first  hour  in  the  spirit- 
world  will  make  in  the  opinions  of  men !  Here 
all  things  are  mixed  up  together,  so  that  it  is 
difficult  often  to  discern  between  the  righteous 


78         Things  Unseen  and  Eternal. 

and  the  wicked.  They  seem  equally  to  hope  ; 
but  the  hopes  of  the  righteous  are  confirmed, 
and  the  hopes  of  the  wicked  are  confounded ! 
When  death  comes,  "  then  shall  the  dust  re- 
turn to  the  dust  as  it  was,  and  the  spirit  shall 
return  unto  God  who  gave  it." 


THINGS  UNSEEN  AND  ETERNAL. 


RESURRECTION. 

"  How  are  the  dead  raised  up?  and  with  what  body  do  they 
come  ?" 

"  Hug  tyeipovrai  oi   vucpoi ;    iroia)  Ze  aujfiaTi  ep^pvrai ;" — 1   Cor. 
XV.,  35. 


